r 



V 



THE 



0CTi9 1899 

HISTORY OF LONDONDtftfl 



COMPRISING THE TOWNS OF 



DERRY AND LONDONDERRY, N. H. 



BY 



REV. EDWARD L. PARKER, 

LATE PASTOR OF THE PRESBTTERIAN CHURCH IN DERRT. 



WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY PERKINS AND WHIPPLE. 

1851. 






Eiitered according to Act of Congres^, in the ycar 1851, by 

Edward P. Parker, 

lil the Clcik's Office of the District Coiiit of the District of Massachusetts. 



fiy ia*ansfer 
'tC 30 1915 



A N D o V E R : J o H N D . F I. A <J O 

ÏTEREOTTPEH *ND PRINTER. 



CONTENTS. 



Mbmoir Page ix 

CHAPTER I. 

Character of the Puritans — Emigrations from Scotland to Ireland — 
Hostility of the native Irish — Invasion of Ireland by James the 
First — Unsuccessful Attempt to take possession of Londonderry — 
Cruelty and Perfidy of the Papists — Siege of Londonderry. . . 1-29 

CHAPTEH II. 

The immediate Causes of the Emigration — Arrival at Boston — 
Selection of a Township — Settlement of a Pastor — Introduction qf 
the Potato — Manufacture of Linen — Petition for a Charter — 
Title to the Land obtained — Attempts to dispossess the Settlers — 
Incorporation of the Town — Fairs — Origin of Town Organiza- 
tions , , . , 30-66 

CHAPTER III. 

Traits in the Character of the early Settlers — Marriage Ceremonies, 
Wakes and Funerals — Diversions — Erection of a Meeting-house 
— Schools — Extracts from the old Town Records — Dwelling- 
houses — Incorporation of the "West Parish — Notices of John and 
James Pinkerton — Incorporation of Windham and Derryfield — 
Old French War — Emigrations from the Town — Patriotic Zeal of 
the Inhabitants during the War of the Revolution — Rebellion of 
1786 — The two Villages — Pinkerton Academy — Adams Female 
Academy — Division of the Town — Emigrations of English Fam- 
ilies into the Town 67-129 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Presbyterianisra in New England — Extracts from the old Church 
Records — Death and Character of Rev. J. MacGregor — Rev. Mr. 
Clark ; his Character — Settlement of Rev. Mr. Thompson — Descrip- 
tion of the Sacramental Service — Induction of Elders — Formation 
of the West Parish, and Settlement of Rev. D. MacGregor — Settle- 
. ment of Rev. Mr. Davidson — Revival — New Meeting-house — 
Death and Character of Rev. D. MacGregor — Settlement of Rev. 
Mr. Morrison — Death and Character of Rev. Mr. Davidson — 
Settlement of Rev. Mr. Brown — Divisions in the East Parish — 
Dismissal of Mr. BroAvn — Settlement of the present Pastor — 
Endowment of the two Parishes — Death and Character of Rev. Mr. 
Morrison — Dr. Dana — Rev. Mr. Hayes ; his Death and Character 

— Rev. Mr. Adams — Rev. Mr. Brainerd — Congregational Society 

— Rev. Mr. Day — Methodist Society — Revivals 129-179 



CHAPTER V. 

Settlements made by Emigrants from Londonderry. — Windham — 
Peterborough — Bedford — Cherry Valley — Nova Scotia — Antrim 
— Aeworth 180-208 



CHAPTER VI. 

Biographical Notices. — William Adams, Rufus Anderson, Robert 
Bartley, John Bell, Samuel Fisher, William (jregg, Jarvis Gregg, 
Samuel Li vermore, Joseph Mc Keen, John McMurphy, John Pren- 
tice, George Reid, Robert Rogers, John Stark, Samuel Taggart, 
Isaac Thom, Matthew Thornton, and James Wilson. — Genealogical 
Sketches of the Families of William Adams, Edward Aiken, James 
Anderson, John Anderson, John Bell, James Clark, Robert Clark, 
John Crombie, Samuel Dickey, George Duncan, Samuel Ela, 
Robert Gilmore, James Gregg, David Gregg, Abraham Holmes, 
John Mack, James MacGregor, Alexander McCollom, James 
McKeen, John McKeen, John Ml^rrison, James Nesraith, Peter 
Patterson, John Pinkerton, Hngh Rankin, James Reid, Matthew 
Taylor, Andrew Todd, John and Thomas Wallace, Thomas Wal- 
Iftce, and John Woodburn 208-312 

/ 



l- 



PREFACE. 



SoON after the death of my fatlier, the charge of editing tlie 
History of Londonderry was commitffed to me. The first foiir 
chapters of the work were nearly completed, and the materlal 
for the two remaining chapters and the Appendix, in a great 
measure coUected and arranged. It was the design of my father, 
that the work should be examined by myself, and by his son-in- 
law, Mr. Samuel H. Taylor, Principal of Phillips Acadeni}-. 
Andover, Mass., previous to its publication ; and a considerable 
portion of the manuscript was in my hands, for this purpose, at 
the tune of his decease. The Editor has therefore done but 
little mor'e in the prep^ation of the work, than would have 
devolved upon him had its Author lived to see its entire com- 
pletion. And though it is more than probable that the Author 
had in his mind some fticts and illustrations, not committed to 
paper, wiüi which he intended to cnricli the woi-k ; yet it is 
believed that the Ilistory now presented to the public, is, in 
matter and form, what he intended it to be. In its preparation, 
my father availed himself of every source of information, and 
made free use of sueh material as could be found,«occasionally 
adopting the precise words and expressions of others, when thcy 
suited his purpose. 



IV PREFACE. 

The Editor woiild express his obligations to Mr. Daniël Mac- 

Gregor and James McKeen, Esq., of the city of New York ; Hon. 

Samuel D. Bell, of Manchester, N. H. ; George W. Nesmith, Esq., 

of Franklin, N. H., and Messrs..A. W. and R. C. Mack, of Lon- 

donderry, for much valuable assistance. His acknowledgments 

are also due to Hon. Luther V. Bell, LL. D., of Somerville, Mass., 

for the portrait of his grandfather, John Bell, Esq., and to Messrs. 

McKeen, of Brunswick, Me., for the portrait of their fatlier, 

President McKeen. There are doubtless others, to whom my 

father would have been pleased to express his obligations. The 

manuscript, before it went to press, received the careful exami- 

nation of Mr. Taylor, who also prepared the Memoir of the 

Author. 

Edward P. Parker. 
Afe.iriinack\ N. //., 
June, 1851. 



CONTENTS. Vil 



APPENDIX. 

Topography of Londonderry — Memorial to Gov. Shute — Wheel- 
wright's Deed — Charter of the Town — Justice McKeen's Com- 
inission — An early Parish Tax-list— Memorial to the General 
Court — Association Test — Soldiers of the Revolution — Petition 
for an Act regulating Parish Voters — Robert MacGregor's Deed 
of the Common and Graveyard — Lists of Representatives and 
Town OflScers — Lawyers — Physicians — Graduates. . . . 313-359 



^ MEMOIR. XI 

given. Eight of her ten children in after life became 
consistent professors of religion. How far earlj maternal 
instruction was the means of this it is not for us to 
determine, but doubtless that inflijence was important. 

Edward, the youngest son, was the favorite child. 
His active and sprightlj habits made him the centre of 
interest in the family circle, a place which he continued 
to hold in after hfe. Before he was five years old, he 
had, in three instances, almost miraculously escaped 
death ; twice from drowning, and once from an attack 
by a domestic animal, the marks of which he ever after 
bore. At the period when he was of a suitable age to 
attend school, the advantages of the common schools of 
New England were much fewer than at present. Instruc- 
tors themselves were very imperfectly qualified, and the 
circle of studies was extremely limited, including little 
more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. This meagre 
course of study was all that Mr. Parker enjoyed in his 
youth. When he was about twelve years of age, he was 
placed as a clerk in the store of his brother Thomas, in 
Bedford, N. H. Here he was brought into scènes of pecu- 
liar temptation. The village in which the store was situated, 
being near the Merrimack River, was the residence and the 
resort of a large number of persons engaged in rafting and 
boating, who, at that time, were in the constant and free 
use of intoxicating drink. A favorite form of it was 
" flip ;'^ and so constant was the demand for this, that the 
loggerhead was always hot, ready to perform its indis- 
pensable part in the preparation of this choice beverage. 
Mr. Parker often remarked that he had sold hogsheads 
of ardent spirit in this form. It will be readily imagined, 
to what corrupting influences he was exposed, where 



Xll MEMOIR. 

intoxicatihg liquors were thus freely used, and where his 
ears were daily familiar with the lowest vulgarity and pro- 
faneness ; and yet, to his own amazement, as in after Ufe 
he looked back upon Jhese scènes, he never contracted 
the habits of those with whom he was brought in contin- 
ual contact. Though the habitual use of ardent spirit 
"was at that time almost universal, yet, even under the 
strongest temptations, he never complied with the prac- 
tice. In a sermon, preached a few years before his death, 
he said : " I was in childhood placed amid scènes of 
peculiar temptation and exposure ; yet, though destitute 
as I then was of the true fear of God, through the influ- 
ence of maternal instruction and the restraints of a kind 
Providence, I was kept from contracting habits, or enter- 
ing upon courses of vice and impiety, into which so many 
at that time were thrown." The impressions made upon 
his youthful mind by witnessing the debasing and brutal- 
izing effects of intemperance, rendered him, in later 
years, the fearless and zealous advocate of every wise 
measure to correct the evil. 

In the discharge of his general duties as clerk in his 
brother's store, he is described as attracting particular 
notice for his activity and energy. A part of his business 
consisted in measuring and taking an account of lumber, 
particularly of boards, which he is said to have done with 
great rapidity. This lumber was sent in rafts to New- 
buryport, and he, being commissioned to go and dispose 
of it, sometimes accompanied the raft, but more gener- 
ally performed the journey each way on foot. As he 
was at this time a mere boy, and small of his age, he 
was looked upon with much interest for the shrewdness, 
accuracy, and despatch which were manifest in all his 
dealings. 



MEMOIR. XIU 

When Mr. Parker was fifteen years of age, the brother 
in whose store he had been emplojed failed in business ; 
an e vent, we are told, which would have occurred still 
earher but for the faithful exertions of his young clerk. 
Being thus thrown out of emplojment, he was invited bj 
another brother, who was a physician in Topsham, Me., 
to go and reside with him, and act as clerk in his drug- 
gist's shop. This invitation he accepted, and remained 
with his brother about a jear. Here he was brought 
into a still strenger current of temptation than before. 
To the vice of intemperance, to which he had been 
exposed, was now added the still more seductive one of 
gambhng. Yet he never jielded ; previous resistance 
had given him doublé power to overcome his present 
exposure. Whenever it was possible, he always with- 
drew from the devotees of the cup and the gaming-board, 
to a small room alone. At last, sickened bj the scènes 
into which he was daily and nightlj thrown, he resolved 
to leave Topsham, and return to his native place. He 
did so, performing the journej of one hundred and fifty 
miles on foot, in the month of March. 

Being unable to find such employment as he wished, 
he left home with the consent of his friends, but without 
informing them of his plans, knowing the objections they 
would interpose, and engaged himself as an apprentice 
to a shoemaker in Billerica, Mass. Here he continued 
for some time, till his friends, accidentally ascertaining 
where he was, persuaded him to return home. But there 
was no business for him there, and his active habits would 
not allow him to be idle. Accordinglj, in connection with 
a brother, he purchased a woodlot, got off the lumber, 
drew it to the river, and rafted it. In the winter, being 

B 



XIV ME MO IR. 

now se venteen years of age, he offered himself as a 
teacher of a district school in the present town of Man- 
chester, N. II., then called Derryfield. Though he had 
bnt a verj Umited education, and had never studied 
Enghsh grammar or geography, yet, after due examina- 
tion, he was approved and engaged to teach the school. 
At the opening of the school, some of his scholars pre- 
sented themselves to studj English grammar. With a 
resolution that never failed him in the most trying cir- 
cumstances, he put himself to the new study with such 
energy as to be able to teach it with success ; and so 
great was the approbation of his instructions, and of his 
general management of the school, that he was invited to 
teach there again the next winter. 

After these checkered scènes, bj the particular advice 
of his friends, avIio saw in him clements of usefulness and 
success in some higher calling than any to which he had 
directed his attention, he was induced to prepare himself 
for the study of medicine. With the Httle gains acquired 
by the sale of his lumber and by his school, he entered the 
academy in Londonderry, at that time, and for many 
years after, under the charge of Samuel Burnham, M. A., 
a gentleman of most excellent character, and of some 
distinction as a teacher. While a member of the acad- 
emy, he boardcd in the faraily of Rev. Jonathan Brown, 
the minister of the East Parish, and whose place he was 
to occupy in a little more than six years. It was during 
his connection with this school that his attention was first 
called decidedly to the subject of religiën, by a sermon 
on the Judgment, delivered in the pulpit in which he 
subsequently preached for so long a period. ïhere can 
be httle doubt that the change wrought in him by the 



MEMOIR. XV 

religious impressions made at that time was a tliorough 
and radical one. It invested life with new interest, pre- 
sented new and more enlarged objects of eflfort, and 
pressed upon liim higher and strenger motives of action. 
He soon relinquished the purpose of entering tlie medi- 
cal profession ; and tliough entirely destitute of means, 
except what he might gain by bis own exertions, directed 
his course of studj with reference to a preparation for 
college, with a view of entering the Christian ministrj. 

At this time there was a highly excited state of feeling 
among the people of the East Parish of Londonderry, 
which had grown out of the opposition of a large minority 
to the settlement of the Rev. Mr. Brown, and the conse- 
quent formation of a Congregational society within the 
bounds of the parish. Mr. Parker, finding his own mind 
too much diverted from his studies by the subjects which 
distracted the parish, left the academy at Londonderry, 
and placed himself under the instruction of Rev. Dr. 
Wood, of Boscawen, N. H., who óften fitted young men 
for college. Here he remained until he entered college, 
with the exception of the time which he spent in teaching. 
During his residence in Boscawen, at the age of nine- 
teen, he united with the church under the charge of Dr. 
Wood. With what perseverance and success he prose- 
cuted his studies under his new, as well as under his 
former instructor, will be evident from the fact, that, in 
two years and three months after he commenced his 
studies in the academy at Londonderry, with a view of 
fitting himself for the medical profession, he entered the 
junior class in Dartmouth College, having taught school 
during this time some more than nine months. He went 
to Hanover on foot, carrying all his effects with him. In 



XVI MEMOIR. 

after life, lie, like manj others, often regretted that he 
had not spent more time in his preparatory and col- 
legiale course. 

While a member of college, he made the most faithful 
use of his time, rising at a very early hour in the 
moming. A classmate who was familiar with all his 
habits, sajs : " Ile prosecuted his studies with great 
assiduity. With him no time was allo wed to pass mi- 
improved. He ranked high as a scholar, and was a 
member of the Phi Bèta Kappa society." 

His Christian character and influence during his college 
course attracted particular notice. A classmate, after 
stating that " he possessed a mind of a high order, strong, 
and quick of apprehension," adds : " but his piety gave 
the chief lustre to his character. As a Chri ^tian, he was 
exemplary, devout, humble, and cheerful. In conver- 
sation and demeanor, he w^as pleasant and courteous. 
Probably no one of his class was more highly esteemed 
for his moral and Christian character than he." Rev. Dr. 
Shurtleff, late professor in Dartmouth College, and the 
only one of his college instructors who now survives, says : 
" It is clear in my recoUection, that Mr. Parker stood 
among the good scholars of his class, but was most prom- 
inent as a devoted, consistent, and faithful Christian." 
And adverting to " his consciëntieus regard for divine 
truth," as exhibited in the decided and bold measures he 
took, on one occasion, to defeat the efforts made to dif- 
fuse loose and dangerous sentiments. Dr. Shurtleff says : 
" I silently marked the spirit which prompted him ; a 
fearless determination to resist, at every hazard, the 
encroachmcnts of error ; and the same fidclity and 
moral courage which he then displayed, were uniformly. 



MEMOIR. XVU 



so far as I have known and heard, carried out with pru- 
dence and good judgment in his subsequent life and 
ministry." Others have borne similar testimony in 
regard to the earnestness and consistencj of his Christian 
example, and of the respect in which he was held, as 
combining in an unusual degree, at that time in college, 
honorable scholarship with decided pietj. 

While Mr. Parker was a member of college, regular 
instruction was given in theology to such as wished it, 
by the professor of that department, which was then filled 
by Rev. Dr. ShurtlefF. Besides pursuing the prescribed 
college course, he availed himself of the opportunity thus 
offered to prosecute his theological studies. In these, as 
in other studies, he made rapid ad vances. His professor, 
referring to the short time in which he prepared to enter 
the junior class in college, remarks : " His well known 
rapidity of mind would give countenance to the report 
which you mention. Certainly, his progress in theology 
corresponded with his supposed rapidity in fitting for 
college." 

Mr. Parker supported himself during his college course 
by teaching school. He often spoke of the good provi- 
dence which directed him to desirable situations ; of one 
instance of this kind, he always had the most grateful 
remembrance. During his senior year, at a season when 
there was no opportunity of obtaining employment in the 
district schools, he found himself wholly destitute of means 
to pay his bills, and knew not what to do. At length, it 
occurred to him that Richard Lang, Esq., a merchant 
at Hanover, might wish to eniploy some one to teach his 
children. With much diffidence, he concluded to go to 
Mr. Lang's store, and propose the subject to him. He 



B* 



XVlll MEMOIR. 

accordinglj went ; and, as soon as lie opened the door, 
Mr. Lang came to him and said : " Mr. Parker, I wish to 
employ some one to teach my children ; I have been to 
Professor ShurtlefF, to request him to recommend a suit- 
able person, and he recommends you ; are jou willing 
to take the situation?" The answer can be readily 
imagined. On the same day, he was comfortably settled 
in Mr. Lang's family, where he remained several months 
after he graduated. Oh, how many young men of gen- 
ereus impulses, and with an ardent desire to prepare 
themselVes to be useful in the world, may be found in all 
our institutions of learning, embarrassed and disheartened 
for the want of some small pittance of relief, which multi- 
tudes would be the richer for ffivin^ir them ! 

Mr. Parker graduated in 1807, but continued his the- 
ological studies at Hanover, under Prof. Shurtleff, for 
several months afterward. He was licensed to preach the 
gospel Oct. 29, 1807, by the Committee of the Grafton, 
N. H., presbylery, his license being signed by John 
Wheelock, John Smith, Roswell ShurtlefF, President and 
Professors in Dartmouth College, and Rev. James Wood- 
ward, of Norwich. During the winter, he spent some 
time in the study of theology with Rev. Dr. Burton, of 
Thetford, Yt., the zcalous advocate and defender of the 
" Taste Scheme," against the " Exercise Scheme," as 
promulgated by Dr. Emmons. 

About this time he began to make occasional cntries 
in a diary, from which a few extracts will be taken in the 
course of this sketch. In view of the ministry upon 
which he was about to enter, he seems to have had 
clearer convictions than before of the necessity of vital 
piety. Hence he says ; " I do resolve to give more dili- 



MEMOIR. XIX 

gence to be established in the hope of the gospel." 
'' Sensible of the great and momentous study in Avhich I 
am engaged, and of the importance of entering upon it 
with right motives, I resolve to devote myself to the 
examination of mj own heart." "I do now resolve to 
relinquish every earthlj object, and to set my aifections 
supremelj on God." " I resolve not to suffer the opin- 
ions, the pleasures, the flatteries, or the frowns of the 
world, to influence mj conduct. Grant me power, O 
God, to confirm my feeble resolutions." 

As an evidence of his laborious application to the 
studies on which he had entered, it may be added, that 
the time of each day, from five o'clock in the morning till 
half-past eleven at night, was appropriated to particular 
duties, including three seasons of devotion. He had an 
impediment in his speech ; he therefore devoted one 
hour each day to correct that. He w^ished to gain a 
more extensive knowledge of some of the studies of his 
college course ; he accordingly gave three hours each 
day to the mathematics, and as many to the languages ; 
and all this in addition to his principal object, the study 
of theology. 

In the spring of 1808, Mr. Parker took charge of the 
academyin Salisbury, N. H., for six months, residing in 
the family of the Rev. Thomas Worcester, pastor of the 
church in that place. After completing his engagement 
at Sahsbury, he preached for several months at Columbia, 
Conn. Here he was invited to settle ; but feeling the 
need of more experience, as well as a more extended 
course of study, before he connected himself permanently 
with any society, he decHned the call, and placed himself 
under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Worcester, of Salem, 
Mass., the first Secretary of the American Board. He 



XX MEMOIR. 

reraained in this place one year, reslding in the family of 
Dr. Worccster, and assisting him in liis ministerial and 
parochial duties ; he also taught a school which was con- 
nected with Dr. Worcester's society. His ardent piety 
was not unobserved bere. His faithful and earnest 
labors, during a revival in the winter of 1809-10, are 
still fresh in the minds of some who were familiar with 
the scènes of that interesting period. He always looked 
upon the time spent at Salem as a very valuable prep- 
aration for his subsequent labors. 

During his residence at Salem, as he passed through 
the East Parish of Londonderry, now Derry, on his way 
to visit his friends in Litchfield, he was providentially 
invited to supply the pulpit for two Sabbaths. This led 
to further engagements, which he met by going to Derry 
on Saturday afternoon, and returning to Salem on 
Monday in time to commence his school. As soon as he 
had fulfiUed the eno;ao;ement he had made with Dr. Wor- 
oester, he received a call to become the pastor of the 
Presbyterian church in the East Parish of Londonderry. 
This call he accepted, and was ordained September 
12, 1810. Rev. Dr. Worcester, his friend and recent 
instructor, preached the ordination sermon. In address- 
ing the people on that occasion. Dr. Worcester said, with 
reference to the pastor elect: "We have the pleasing 
confidence that our young brother, who is now to be set 
over you in the Lord, will prove to you an ascension-gift, 
a good man and full of the Holy Ghost, an able and 
faithful minister of the New Testament. This confidence 
we have not taken up lightly ; it has resulted from what 
we have seen and known, and with respect to some of 
us, at least, it has been strengthened and confiraied by 
intimate and endearing acquaintance." 



MEMOIR. XXI 

Just before his ordination, he had evidently made the 
responsible duties of the ministrj, and the various wajs 
by which these might be most successfullj accomphshed, 
a matter of protracted and prayerful study. He had 
taken a comprehensive view of the difficulties to be met, 
the prejudices to be overcome, and feit that he needed 
more than human wisdom to render his ministry success- 
ful. There was no shrinking from the responsibihties of 
the station, because it was beset with trials ; no desire 
even to avoid what might come in the way of duty ; his 
only solicitude was to know how he might approve him- 
self to Hlm who had put him into the ministry. 

The following extracts from his diary, will show his 
interest in adopting and carrying out such principles and 
rules, as would fit him most successfully for the work on 
which he was about to enter. 

" I will consider love to God and zeal for his glory 
as my highest duty, and study to improve daily in these 
divine affections ; and will judge of my progress in them, 
not by transient fervor, but by my habitual temper ; by 
my faithful performance of the self-denying duties of 
Christianity ; by my cheerful acquiescence in' all God's 
dispensations, and by the love, humility, and watchfulness 
which I maybe enabled to exhibit to those around me." 

'^ I will cultivate au habitual sense of God's presence, 
and of my accountability to him ; of the shortness of time, 
and my obligations to improve it." 

" I will be particularly Avatchful against the love of 
praise or distinction, as well as the fear of shame ; desist- 
ing from my purpose when I feel these to be my only 
motives, and endeavoring by prayer to overcome them 
when I perceive them combined with proper motives," 



XXll MEMOIR. 

" I will be open to conviction, ever receiving correc- 
tion and reproof meeklj and tbankfullj ; never question- 
ing merely for the sake of dispute, nor retorting on 
my repro ver." 

" I will in no case affect knowledge which I have not; 
I will not put off to a future day the business of the pres- 
ent, but will applj mjself to it, never yielding to sloth 
or the love of ease, but exercising a constant and self- 
denjing attention to mj proper work." 

" I will watch particularlj against all heartlessness 
towards inferiors, and especiallj such as need mj help. 
I will listen kindlj to their representations, and render 
them all the assistance in mj power." 

" I will guard against everything, in look and manner, 
which might tend to wound the feelings of others." 

*' I will not allow the conduct of others towards me to 
lessen my kindness and good-will to them." 

" I will consider the study of my heart one main busi- 
ness of my life, and I will enter every evening, if possible, 
into a serieus review of the day past, and will solemnly 
consider the fitness of my soul to enter the eternal 
world." 

In 1811, he married Miss Mehetabel Kimball, daughter 
of Deacon Stephen Kimball, of Hanover, N. H. She 
was to him a worthy companion, and a valued helper 
in bis rcsponsible duties. ïhe connection then formed 
continued for thirty-nine years. She still survives, 
residing with her youngest son, They had four children ; 
two sous and two daughters. The younger daughter 
died at the age of about three years ; their other children 
are still living. 

The parish with which Mr. Parker was connected, 



MEMOIR. XXUl 

required unusual labor and prudence. It stretched over 
a large territorj, rendering much time necessary to visit 
the remote parts of it. There had also been much 
alienation between the two societies which had existed 
there for several years ; the appropriate duties of the 
ministry had been to some extent neglected, and, when 
performed, were rendered in a measure nugatory, by the 
unhappy state of feeling existing in the place. And 
though, at the time of Mr. Parker' s settlement, the two 
societies had with entire unanimity united in giving him 
a call, yet the old wounds could not at once be healed. 
A conviction of duty as well as interest impelled them to 
bury their differences, and to unite their strength in the 
support of an efficiënt ministry. Still, there were ele- 
ments pent up, which a slight cause would at any time 
call into action. This state of things Mr. Parker well 
understood, for we find in his diary at this time, this 
resolution : " Resolved to be very watchful and circum- 
spect in regard to everything I say, considering the 
present state of the society." The ministry on which he 
entered under such circumstances was eminently suc- 
cessful. Not that there was always entire harmony or 
no personal dissatisfaction ; not that a different course 
of measures and a different style of preaching would not 
have been acceptable to some ; not that he himself was a 
stranger to trials, some of which made his nights weari- 
some and sleepless ; but the general results of the connec- 
tion between him and the parish were much more happy, 
both for the temporal and spiritual interests of the peoi^le, 
were attended with more harmony and mutual confidence, 
than either could have dared to anticipate. 

On the day of his ordination, he enteied among other 



XXIV MEMO IR. 



resoliitions, the following : " I noiv resolve to give myseJf 
wJiolly to tlie ivorh.''^ This was the great motto of his 
life. This resolution, adopted, not from constraint, but 
under a high sense of dutj, brought one single object of 
life before him, as the centre towards which everjthing 
must tend, and made the exhausting and self-denying 
labors of the ministry a sonrce of rich enjojment. Single- 
ness of aim, a hearty devotedness to the work, is one of 
the surest pledges of success in anj undertaking, and is 
nowhere more needful than in the ministry. When this 
oflBce is entered with a divided purpose, with an eye as 
much upon the personal advantages it may give as upon 
the solemn duties it imposes and the fruifcs that should 
spring from it ; when it is sought with a view to gratify 
a literary taste, or as a field for the display of learning 
or eloquence, or because it may elevate him who is 
clothed with it to a more refined circle in society ; when 
any one, or all of these become paramount to the true 
business of the ministry, — the saving of men's souls, — 
that sacred office is so far prostituted, and the results 
which may always sooner or later be expected from the 
faithful performance of its duties, fail of being attained. 
It has been justly said, that it is hard to be a faithful min- 
ister ; and with equal justice it has been replied, it is 
harder to be an unfaithful one. 

Mr. Parker entered the ministry with no such divided 
purpose. " I resolve to give mj^self wholly to the work. 
I determine to realize that I have but one Master to 
serve, and to make it my great aim to please him." 
Thus he resolves, and thus he writes, on the day of 
his ordination ; and how faithfully the pledge was kept, 
the people to whom he ministered for forty years can best 



MEMOIR. XXV 

judge. How earnestlj he labored ; how little he con- 
sulted liis own ease ; how entirelj he merged his private 
interests in the welfare of his people ; with what restless 
anxiety he watched for opportunities to do good ; how he 
divided to his flock the Word of God, giving to each a 
portion in due season ; how he warned and entreated 
them ; how he went from house to house, conversing with 
those unreconciled to God ; how often he was hj the bed- 
side of the sick and the dying, pointing them to their 
onlj refuge ; with what deep sjmpathjhe imparted con- 
solation to the afflicted and broken-hearted ; with what 
words of gentleness he strove to win the affection and 
confidence of the lambs of his flock, that the truth might 
take effect in their minds also ; what a fervor and spirit 
of piety mingled in all his duties ; in a word, how faith- 
ful, how exemplary and blameless, was his ministrj, they 
know well, who, for so manj years, were witnesses of 
these things. 

Ilis theological views were consistent, scriptural, and 
what are termed evangelical. While he had studied 
most of the leading theologians, and was familiar with 
their differences of opinion, and their varjing shades of 
representation and conception, he had studied the Bible 
more, and admitted or rejected particular views, according 
as thej coincided or were at variance with what, after 
patiënt studj, he believed to be the teaching of the Word 
of God. Of the doctrines of the Bible he had clear and 
well-defined conceptions, apprehending the extent and 
limits of each, as well as their interdependence, and seeing 
how sjmmetrical and harmonious a sjstem thej formed 
when combined together. Hence, without prjing into the 
bidden mysteries of God, or trying to comprehend and 
c 



XXVI MEMOIR. 



explain them, he was able to " vindicate tlie wajs of God 
toman." These doctrines were presentcd clearly and 
forciblj, but never in a manner suited to make the 
hearers of them theological wrangiers, or the diseiples of 
a particular theological teacher. No one ever heard 
from his pulpit the distinctive views or modes of philoso- 
phizing adopted by Edwards, Hopkins, ÜAvight, Burton, 
or Emmons. His aim was, not so much to make theolo- 
gians as Christians, not so much to give theoretical as 
practical instruction. 

Mr. Parker possessed highlj respectable, but not dis- 
tinguished talents as a preacher. If it could be said that 
he preached few great sermons, it could also be said that 
he rarely, if ever, preached a poor one. Though his 
mind was not characterized bj any marked originality, it 
was strong and vigorous, quick of pcrception and rapid in 
its operations. It was not one-sided, or marred by any 
prominent defects, but was Avell-balanced and well-dis- 
ciplined. His sermons were not elaborate productions, 
modelled after severe rules ; they bore no striking marks 
of the rhetorician's skill, and there was little in them to 
gratify the fanc}^ or imagination ; but they were always 
sound and instructive, always exhibited consecutive and 
well-arranged thought ; they were plain, direct, and 
earnest, making forcible appeals to the conscience,urging 
upon men their duty, and portraying the fearful conse- 
quences of neglecting it ; with the deepest solemnity too, 
did he exhort and entreat them to become reconciled to 
God.. And such was the evident sincerity with which 
his appeals and exhortations were made, so entirely free 
was he from heartlessness br formality in them, that none 
could sit beneath his ministrations without the conviction 



MEMOIR. 

that he was a man of God, who knew and feit the weightj 
import of the message he had been commissioned to 
deliver. 

The subjects of his discourses were well chosen ; he 
had no favorite circle of themes on which to preach, to the 
neglect of all others. His aim was to declare the whole 
counsel of God, selecting at a particular time such sub- 
jects as he supposed the wants of his people required. 
In this he was remarkablj judicious. Being constantly 
among his parishioners, and acquainting himself with their 
peculiar state of feeling, with their misapprehensions of 
truth or prejudices against it, he was fully prepared to 
meet their various necessities. The state of the times, . 
passing events, and solemn providences, he often seized 
upon as themes of discourse. But whatever the theme, 
whether doctrinal or practical, historical or biographical, 
his great aim was to enforce moral truth on the minds of 
his hearers. 

In the discharge of his appropriate duties as pastor, he 
had few if any superiors. He has often and justlj been 
called a '' model pastor." Certainly, in the untiring 
and faithful manner in which the duties of this office 
were met, he has been surpassed by none. Not even 
Dr. Chalmers, in his unwearied efiforts to make his pas- 
toral influence feit among the ten or twelve thousand 
parishioners of the ïron Church Parish, or the Parish of 
St. John's, can be said to have performed a greater 
amount of pastoral labor. The labors of the pastor should 
ever coexist with those of the preacher ; if the former are 
merged in the latter, so far the preacher neglects one of 
the most effective clements of his strength. Each is a 
handmaid of the other. To be most successful as a 



XXVlll MEMOIR. 

preacher one must be a faithful pastor, and he who would 
carry with him the greatest influence in his pastoral 
circuits, must remember that, however constantly and 
faithfullj these more private ministrations may be per- 
formed, thej can never supersede the necessitv of the 
well studied and vigorous instructions of the pulpit. 
How readilj and skilfuUy can he suit his teachings to 
particular states of mind, when he has learned these by 
mingling with his people ; and how cordial a reception will 
he meet at the homes of his parishioners ; what an influ- 
ence will his private teachings have over them ; how 
readily will they open their hearts, if on the Sabbath he 
bas ably and faithfully instructed them from the oracles 
of God. 

The views of Mr. Parker with regard to the importance 
of the pastoral office, as well as the character and extent 
of his labors in it, are happily expressed in the following 
extract from the Congregational Journal, written by the 
Editor, Rev. Henry Wood. 

" Confessedly, preaching is the great work of the min- 
istry ; but it is not its whole work. The natural and 
acquired abilities which give it interest and power, the 
reason which invigorates it, the taste which adorns it, 
the imagination which enlivens it, and the eloquence 
which enforces it, are of high value, and worthy of admi- 
ration ; at the same time, there are other qualifications 
equally potential in securing success, if not equally attrac- 
tive and dazzling. The kind heart, the wisely spoken word, 
the judicious meas.ures, the visit to the house of poverty, 
outgushing sympathy with mourning and sorrow, interest 
in the parishioner's temporal as well as spiritual welfare, 
the familiar conversation, the cultivated intimacy with 



MEMOIR. XXIX 

childhood and youth throughout the parish, the prayer at 
the familj altar, or at the bedside of the sick and the 
djing, the conference in the school-room, and the pray er- 
meeting in the private dweiling, if they do not exhibit 
the talent which prepares the impressive and admired 
sermon, are indispensable to its effect." 

" The power of the pulpit is not like that of gravitation 
or the mechanical forces, which may be calculated on 
infallible principles ; the state of mind in those who hear, 
is an important element in the computation of preaching 
power. Eloquence is impotent when it is judged to be 
heartless, and the most logical ^sermons fail to convince 
and impress, when it is suspected that they are extorted by 
the stern demands of pulpit duty, rather than the simple 
products of the prompting heart. It is the volunteer 
offices of the week which give much of its force to the 
exacted sermon of the Sabbath, — offices which might 
have been omitted without censure, and were performed 
with manifest pains-taking and self-denial. These, 
attesting to the sincerity of the heart, make eloquence 
moie eloquent, and even common-place impressive and 
mighty." 

'' The churches of New Hampshire have just lost, — 
no, not lost, but parted with one whose life both sug- 
gested our remarks and illustrated them. Rev. Edward 
L. Parker, of Derry, was a model pastor, exceeded by 
none other in the State ; it is hardly too much to add, by 
no one in New England. A distinguished minister, who 
for many years had sustained the pastoral relation to 
an important congregation, and afterwards became the 
learned professor in a theological seminary and university, 
after spending a few weeks in the family of Mr. Parker, 

c* 



XXX MEMOIR. 

and observing his wisdom and tact, remarked, that he 
excelled in these respects all the ministers he had ever 
known, and deserved to be stuiied bj young preachers 
as a model. His talents as a preacher were respectable, 
but not eminent ; alwajs judicious and instructive, he was 
never eloquent. But his pastoral influence, like the air, 
was difFused and feit over his entire parish. In illustra- 
tion of his life and labors, it may be stated, such was his 
attention to the young that we learned from his own lips 
what was affirmed by others, that he knew the name of 
every child in his large parish of nearly two thousand 
gouls. His labors in the outskirts of his parish were as 
abundant as they w^ere arduous. He was wont to 
remark, that if he fortified the outposts he did not fear 
for the citadel." 

" If Mr. Parker's parish had reason to boast of its 
pastor, the pastor had reason to boast of liis parish, 
which in its good order, its intelligence, its solid religious 
character, its harmony, its steady progress, and the 
number of its youth it educated and sent forth to honor- 
able and useful stations, is hardly excelled by any other 
in New England." 

For about thirty years of Mr. Parker's ministry, his 
parish contained nearly four hundred families, all of 
which he lookcd upon as his pastoral charge, and having 
claims upon him for instruction and sympathy. At 
times, he would make appointments to visit in particular 
neighborhoods, on certain days, calling at every house, 
and in this way making the circuit of the whole parish ; 
at other times, his visits were less formal and system- 
atic, having reference to the circumstances and wants 
of particular families. His attentions to the afflicted 



MEMOIR. XXXI 



were unremitted, clay after daj was he foimd at the 
bedside of the sick and djing ; the earnest inquirer he 
sought out, that he might impart the Hght and instruction 
of the gospel ; the infirm and aged, who could not 
attend on his pubUc teachings, to their spirftual wants 
he ministered m their own dweUings. Sometimes he 
devoted an entire week in visiting, with the single view 
of awakening among parents and children an interest in 
attending the Sabbath school. His visits, whether for 
this purpose or for others, were more frequent to the 
remoter parts of the town than to families more centrally 
situated. Wherever he went, he usually carried small 
books or tracts, particularly adapted to the young, which 
he distributed among them, both for the purpose of 
instructing them, as well as winning their love and con- 
fidence. Such was his desire to be among his people, 
that it was with difficultj he could be persuaded to be 
absent a few days, even to visit his friends ; and when 
he did so, he was always impatient to return ; and when- 
ever he knew that any circumstances called him to any 
part of his parish, he could never be induced to give 
himself quiet or rest at home, unless the state of the 
weather rendered it wholly imprudent to go abroad. 
Never was there a parish which had a more faithful or 
laborious pastor. 

Mr. Parker had a special interest in the younger 
portion of his parish, and this interest was accompanied 
by corresponding efforts for their improvement. He not 
only feit but he acted on the principle, that youth is the 
seed-time of life. Some years previous to the establish- 
ment of Sabbath schools in New England, he adopted 
measures to give the youth of his parish a more extensive 



XXXU MEMOIR. 

and exact knowledge of the Bible. The resldents of 
DeiTj, thirty-five years ago, will reraember the two soci- 
eties then in cxistence with this object in view. The 
" Adelphi," and the " Young Ladies Catechetical Soci- 
ety," Avill hver be held in grateful remembrance bj not 
a few of their members. These societies met once each 
month, though not at the same time. Particular subjects 
for examination were previously assigned by the pastor, 
and the members of the society were expected to illus- 
trate and ostabHsh these by texts of Scripture. Subjects 
were not unfrequently given to the members of the 
Adelphi (the society for the young men), on which to 
write ; this they often did, at considerable length. In 
some instances, the meetings of this society were held in 
public. In such cases, the members were questioned in 
the presence of the audience, and also read the disserta- 
tions which they had written. Few parishes had a more 
promising circle of young men than were to be found 
here, before the advantages held out to them from 
abroad induced them to leave their native place. It 
must be added, that some of the choicest spirits went to 
an early grave. Nor is it out of place to remark, that 
the young ladies connected with the society established 
for their improvement, have been distinguished for sta- 
bility of character ; and many of them have been orna- 
ments in their respective spheres. 

As another means of improving the young men. Mr. 
Parker invited them to meet in the vestry on Sabbath 
noon, and at other times, to listen to the readingof some 
valuable book. Sometimes, too, meetings were appointed 
in the school-houses in the remote parts of the parish, for 
the same purpose. Hawes's Lectures to Young Men, 



MEMOIR. XXXIU 

were read in tliis waj in different parts of the town. 
For the younger part of his charge, he had other 
measures. By various inducements, he would persuade 
them to commit the answers to Scripture Questions, and 
also the Assemblj's Shorter Catechism. For many years, 
his custom was to give a pocket Testament, containing 
his own name and that of the one to whom it was given, 
to everj child who would recite the Catechism perfectlj. 
Much interest was in this waj awakened in the study of 
this vahiable summary of truth ; and the prize which the 
successful competitors obtained, was valued both as an 
evidence of diligence and success, and also as being a 
present from their pastor. And will not these little 
mementos of a pastor's affection and interest have an 
increased value, now that he who inscribed those youthful 
names, lias ceased from his labors in their behalf, and is 
silent in death ? 

On occasions of temperance and Sabbath school cele- 
brations, so earnest was he that all the children might have 
their minds interested in these objects by the ceremonies, 
as well as by the direct instructions, that the writer well 
remembers him hurrying in different directions over the 
common, where the processions w^ere usually formed, 
picking up a child here and another there, and finding 
places for them with the others. 

His effbrts for the general education of the yomig were 
of the same earnest character. Durins; almost the whole 
of his ministry, he visited the eight or ten district schools 
each four times a year, — at the commencement and the 
close of the summer and winter terms. These were no 
formal visits, made to get rid of an irksome duty. He 
went with his mind alive to the interests which centred 



XXXIV MEMOIR. 

about those humble seats of learniug. He watched and 
notedjwitli scarcely less than paternal interest, the devel- 
opment and ^rowth of each mind. This interest on the 
part of the pastor was not without its effect on the minds 
of the scholars. Thej knew that their progress was 
marked, and w^ere incited by it to greater efforts. A 
failure at an examination is always humbling, but it is 
doubly so when made in the presence of onc whom we 
know to feel a Uvelj interest in our improvement. The 
writer has not jet forgotten his own mortified feelings at 
faihng to perform an exercise in the presence of his 
pastor, nor the resolution he then formed, not to be 
found deficiënt on a similar occasion. How manjyouth- 
ful minds have been thus quickened to nobler exertions, 
cannot be told ; but without doubt, not a few owe their 
first zealous impulse to study to the manifest interest and 
the counsels of their pastor at these school visitations. 

Mr. Parker was also deeply interested in the higher 
institutions of learning in the town. From their first 
establishment, he was a trustee in the Pinkerton Acad- 
emy, and in the Adams Female Academy, and took a 
prominent part in their organization, and in advising and 
directing in regard to their various interests. While 
there were at times marked differences of opinion in 
regard to the genera! measures to be adopted, and like- 
wise some cause for strong personal feeling, it is believed 
that in all cases he zealously sought their best good with- 
out reference to his own private feelings, or the odium 
that might attach to him from advocating views different 
from those of his associates. Certainly, no member of 
either board had his sjmpathies more w^armly enhsted in 
behalf of these institutions ; and no one w^as more fre- 



MEMOIR. XXXV 

quently found at the quarterlj examinatlons. At the 
time of his cleath he was the president of both boards. 

The remarks ah*eady made show the laborious habits 
of Mr. Parker ; but this feature deserves to be brought 
out still more prominentlj. It may be said with 
little hazard, that no minister of New England performed 
a greater amount of pastoral labor, and that no one 
preached as many times within the sarae period, as he 
did. In favorable weather, he usually preached three 
times on the Sabbath, — the third service being held in 
some one of the school-houses or in a private house. 
Besides this, he often held in the summer a prajer- 
meeting or teacher's meeting, before morning service, 
and always attended a Bible class or the Sabbath school 
during the intermission of the public exercises. And it 
is judged that on an average he preached three lectures 
a week, in different parts of the town ; in seasons 
of religieus interest the num.ber being much. greater. 
The following extracts from his memoranda, embracing 
two weeks, commencing with the first of January, will 
exhibit the general character and amount of his labors 
abroad among his people during the week. 

" Monday. Visited Mr. W., being sick with fever, 
but recovering ; also Mrs. H. , very low with consump- 
tion. Her hope is firm, desirous to depart. Afternoon, 
Monthly Concert. 

" Taesday, Visited Mrs. McK., Mr. D., Mr. P., and 
others in the neighborhood; In the evening, attended a 
meeting of professors of religiën at Mr. P's ; serieus and 
I hope profitable meeting. 

" Wednesday, Visited Mr. P., whose wife recently 
died. Attended a meeting of professors, and those who 



XXXVl MEMOIR. 

were serlous, at Mr. N's ; meeting full. One person 
expressecl the hope of having obtained light and comfort 
the daj before from the Word of God ; may it prove gen- 
uine. In the evenmg, attended a similar meeting at Mr. 
Cs. I have now fulfilled mj appointment of visiting the 
church in their respective neighborhoods, with a view to 
ascertain their spiritual state, and to concert measures 
to be adopted and pursued to revive rehgion in their 
hearts and among those around them. The effect has 
been, I trust, favorable. I feel much satisfied with the 
course pursued, as I find it has served to rouse manj 
■who had begun to slumber. 

" Thursday. Attended a conference meeting at Mrs. 
Cs. 

" Friday. Visited Mr. M's familj, and left some 
tracts. Also Mr. P's ; had an opportunitj to converse 
with his son ; hope that it may not prove in vain. 
Visited Mr. N., Mrs. G., Mr. IL, Mr. N. Found him 
resting on the dangerous ground that a sinner must 
wait God's time. , Visited Mr. G's, Mr. D's, and Mr. 
S's. In the evening, attended a conference at Mr. 
G's." 

" Monday. Visited a school near Mr ; dincd with 

Mr. F ; conversed freely with him on the subject of 
delay ; afterwards visited the school in . 

" Taesday. Attended the funeral of ; visited at 

Mrs. T's. 

" Wednesday. Visited Mr. P., Mr. Conversed 

particularly with him on the subject of his suspension ; 
admonishcd him of his critical situation, which he 
received kindlj'. In the evening, preached a lecture at 
Mr. A's. 



MEMOIR. XXXVU 

" Thursday. Yislted Mrs. Cs, and preached a 
lecture in the school-house near Mr. Ws." 

The next week he visited one school, fourteen families, 
preached four lectures, and attended an inqniry meeting. 

The following extracts from his journal, will show the 
strong interest which prompted these labors : — 

" I will cherish love for my people, and feel that for 
everj soul I must give account." 

" I will prepare a list of mj people, and will in the 
course of the jear if practicable, and oftener if I can. 
applj divine truth to the heart of each, personallj." 

" I will converse with mj people more freelj and 
more directlj on the great subject of religion, as I have 
opportunitj, and let no occasion pass unimproved." 

The historj of his pastoral labors can never be written ; 
thej could have been fully understood only bj going with 
him on his visits to schools, to families, to individuals, 
and bj witnessing his deep interest in their behalf, and 
the faithful manner in which he discharged his duties to 
them. 

Notwithstanding this amount of labor abroad, he 
secured time for studj and for the preparation of his dis- 
courses. -But this he did onlj bj the strictest economj. 
No one could find more hours in a day than he ; nor 
could any one turn to better account the fragments of 
time. He could never be found idle. Some valuable 
author was constantly by him, which was taken up when 
he had a leisure moment. He had a keen relish for 
study, and it was no task for him to turn his mind, at 
once, to the subjects he wished to consider. While his 
reading was by no means limited, it could not be said to 
be extensive. It embraced but comparatively few authors, 

D 



XXXVlll MEMOIR. 

bilt thej were worth the reading, and were well di- 
gested. With those writers who believe in the infinite 
divisibility of thought, he had no patience. Ile would 
frequently speak of the condensing process 'which needed 
to be apphed to manj authors. Thongh his sermons, 
as before remarked, were not elaborate productions, thej 
were by no means hastilj prepared. The plan and gen- 
eral arrangement of them he made as he rode on horse- 
back from place to place among his people, and subse- 
quentlj "wrote them out in the quiet of his studj. He 
was a man of system ; he had a sjstem in his studies, 
and a sjstem in his parochial and otlier duties. This 
gave him an amount of time for the numerous demands 
made upon him, -which would seem incredible to those 
who do everjthing without a plan. 

Mr. Parker was a man of sound judgment. He formed 
his plans intelligentlj and judiciously, rarelj making a 
mistake in regard to their practicability. His judgment 
was often put to a severe test in determining the course 
to be pursued in critical emergencies, but he seldom took 
a wrong step. This shielded him from the difficulties 
into which so many men are constantly running. He 
was not a man to run hastily after any new or popular 
notions, merely because they were such ; nor was he a 
man to be carried away by any popular current. Neither 
his opinions nor measures were characterized by any 
extremes ; they were neither radical nor so conservative 
as to admit of no departure from what usage or time 
might have established. He took practical and safe 
views of whatever came before him, and was ever 
esteemed a wise and valuable counsellor by his brethren 
in the ministry. 



MEMOIR. XXXIX 

While Mr. Parker was not liable to be deceived hj 
new moVements, or to run into them because tliej were 
new,* liis good judgment was manifested in his readiness 
to adopt anj measures, from whatever source thej might 
come, provided they promised substantial, permanent 
good. It is believed tliat the first temperance society in 
New Hampshire was formed among his people ; and he 
was among the very first in tTie State to introducé the 
system of Sabbath school instruction. 

He was well acquainted with human nature, and 
formed a correct estimate of character. He was quick 
to detect the prejudices of men, their particular bias and 
varied motives. He knew who had an honest heart, and 
who, onlj an honest appearance. He was not deceived 
by smooth words, nor misled by a show of friendship. 
Modest and retiring worth, too, he never failed to see and 
appreciate, however rough and forbidding the exterior. 

With a sound judgment was united a remarkable 
prudence. The former enabled him to see what was 
wise, the latter kept him from doing what was unwise. 
Judgment, gave him an insight into the characters of 
men ; prudence, put him on his guard against giving 
them unnecessary oifence. The former devises wise 
measures, the latter keeps out of the way influences 
which might. pre vent their accomphshment. These two 
characteristics were happily combined in Mr. Parker, 
and to their influence is to be attributed much of the 
success of his ministry, as well as the general harmony 
among his people. These are important elements of 
success in any situation in life, but especially in the min- 
istry. There are states of feeUng and times of excite- 
ment both among individuals and an entire society, when 



xl MEMOIR. 

a false step or even an imprudent expression may prove 
disastrous to a pastor's influence and counteract the 
benefits of his past labors. Mr. Parker's prudence did"not 
degenerate into timidity, though in some cases a bolder 
and more decided course might have been wiser. It 
was not a mere negative virtue, whose only merit consists 
in preventing men from acting, lest they may act wrong ; 
nor was it a compromise of duty for the sake of a dead 
quietism. It was a studieus effort in all his ministerial 
duties, in all his relations as a citizen, to do nothing 
whereby his ministry might be blamed, or its influence 
impaired. It showed itself in foreseeing and preventing 
the occasions of evil ; in pouring oil on the troubled waters ; 
in studying fitting times and seasons in which to rebuke 
any prevailing evil ; in addressing with a spirit of kind- 
ness mingled with fidelity the erring ones of his flock, 
instead of bringing a raihng accusation against them. 

An incident which occurred but a few weeks before 
his death, will show how sensitive he was to whatever 
might in any way prejudice the mind against the truth. 
The Sabbath school was held in the vestry, which is ad- 
jacent to the entrance-hall, where many persons usually 
stand during intermission. The door to the vestry would 
often be left open ; and some persons, not connected with 
the Sabbath school, would stand near the door to hear 
what was said, while the conversation of others was a 
serious annoyance to the exercises of the school. To 
send some oneto shut the door, would deprive those who 
wished it of an opportunity to hear, and others too might 
regard it as a mark of censure towards themselves ; 
and who could teil the consequences of an act apparently 
so unimportant ? He was unwilling, therefore, that any 



MEMOIR. 



Xli 



one shoulcl close the door, but said to the superintendent : 
" Can you not put a spring on the door which will always 
close itwhen it is opened?" To the unreflecting this 
might seem the merest trifling, but whoever understands 
the nature of the human mind, its nice susceptibihties, 
the slight causes which often give it a permanent direc- 
tion fbr good or for evil, and that the destiny of indi- 
viduals is sometimes so dehcatelj poised that a feather's 
weight might turn the scale, will not regard it as an 
unimportant circumstance, whether that doorwere closed 
bj' conscious or unconscious agency. The spring was 
soon put upon the door, but the watchful and sohcitous 
pastor never entered the room afterwards. 

Mr. Parker was a man of ardent piety, and his Chris- 
tian character was eminently consistent and exemplary. 
" No one becomes a villain at once," said the Roman 
satirist, and with more truth may it be said that no one 
becomes an eminent Christian at once. The formation 
of character, whether good or bad, is progressive ; it is 
not the work of a moment ; time and appropriate influ- 
ences are requisite. Particularly is this the case in 
forming and perfecting that character which the poet has 
justly termed the " highest style of man." Mr. Parker 
recognized this principfe in the cultivation of piety. He 
devoted much time to prayer, usually having three sea- 
sons of private devotion daily. He had also special 
seasons of fasting and prayer. It was one of his resolu- 
tions to devote the last Saturday of each month to this 
object. He was a constant and prayerful student of the 
Bible. He always rosé early in the morning, and before 
his mind was engrossed with other things, he gave the 
first hours of the day to the study of the Scriptures ; and 



D* 



Xlii MEMOIR. 

as he grew older, they became more and more a favorite 
study. He often remarked that he found in them inexhaust- 
ible tfeasures. Those who were for any time in his fam- 
ilj, will remember how often he was seen with his Bible 
in his hand. This he studied, not merely as a bibhcal 
critic, though his Greek Testament gives abundant evi- 
dence that he had not neglected that duty ; but partic- 
ularly that he might imbibe the spirit of its teachings, and 
draw from it that nourishment whereby he might grow 
in grace. His piety was not fitful and intermittent, at 
one time ardent and at another without any evidence* of 
vitaUty ; there was a remarkable uniformity and symme- 
try in it, much more than is noticeable in most Christians. 
Amid the general declensions in the church, the fire did 
not go out on his altar, but burned with an almost uni- 
form brilliancy. Indeed, when the piety of ethers shone 
but dimly, he feit the need of cultivating with increased 
watchfulness his own graces. The people of his late 
charge will remember the earnestness and fervor of his 
appeals both in public and private, when a spirit of world- 
liness had made them forgetful of higher interests. The 
following extracts from different parts of his diary, while 
they imply his own convictions of the low attainments he 
had made in holiness, give evidence of his earnest endeav- 
ors to grow into a nearer resemblance to his great Pattern 
and Exemplar. 

" I resolve to be more frequent and earnest in prayer. 
I resolve to read the Scriptures more attentively, and 
with self-application." 

" I will aim after singleness of heart, and devote more 
time to devotion." 

On recovering from sickness, he says : " May it be so 



MEMOiB. xliii 

sanctified as to be instrumental in leading me to greater 
spirituality and to be more devoted to the duties of mj 
office." 

" I will maintain a devotional frame and a more spirit- 
ual conversation." 

" As I am less engrossed this week than usual, I 
resolve to dismiss all other subjects from my mind, and 
to make the attainment of a good hope in Christ my 
special concern." 

" How many precieus moments have I waste d, which 
should have been consecrated to the cultivation of piety." 

" I resolve to be more engaged in my great work ; to 
strive to advance religiën in my heart and life ; to suffer 
no other object to divertmy attention." 

"I fear I do not make advances in the divine life. I 
find from unhappy experience that the least neglect of 
duty, the least perplexity about the world, proves de- 
structive to the soul. May I be excited to live nearer to 
God, and may I enjoy more of the light of his counte- 
nance." 

" I now determine to seek after holiness, to be much 
in prayer, to live above the world, to feel myself no longer 
my own but Christ's, to be employed by him in the ser- 
vice of this people, over whom I am placed as a spirit- 
ual watchman. I will especially guard against worldly 
cares and anxieties. I will redeem time, and consider 
every hour lost which is not employed in some way to 
promote my personal hohness and my usefulness as a 
'minister of Christ. I will do more and more every day 
to promote the salvation of men." 

The following was entered in a note-book, while he was 
at Philadelphia. " During my absence in attending the 
General Assembly, as I shall be unincumbered with do- 



xliv MEMOIR. 

mestic concerns and parochial duties, I determlne to 
improve the time at mj command in attending more par- 
ticularlj to the state of my heart, and the evidence of 
mj pietj." 

About five years before his death, after he had made 
arrangements which relieved him almost entirely from 
domestic cares, he sajs : " As I am, by a kind providence, 
in circumstances more favorable to an entire consecration 
of myself to the work of the ministry, I resolve to free 
my mind as much as possible from worldly cares, and to 
study to promote in every practicable way my own hoUness 
and the spiritual interests of others, especially of the souls 
committed to my charge. I resolve to give myself more 
to prayer ; each duj to present the case of some one 
before God." 

The measure of good which he accomplished, whether 
greater or less, cannot be told. Who can follow the 
waves of influence, either for good or for evil, in their 
ever-widening circles ? But that he did much in promoting 
a spirit of harmony among the people of his charge, in 
correcting or preventing various ' evils, in raising the 
Standard of education, in elevating the general character 
of the people, in awakening interest in the great benevo- 
lent operations of the day, and above all in bringing many 
under the controlling power of the truth, will not be called 
in question. At the time of his ordination, the church 
contained ninety-eight members ; at some periods of his 
ministry, before the formation of the church in the Lower 
Village, and the removal of quite a number of families 
and individuals into the several manufacturing villages 
which have grown up in the vicinity, the church contained 
over three hundred members. At the time of his death, 



MEMOIR. xlv 

the number was two hundred and eighty, about forty of 
these being non-residents. During his pastoral office, 
about five hundred were added to the church bj pro- 
fession. 

In the course of his ministry, Mr. Parker pubhshed 
several sermons, most of them on funeral occasions. On 
the death of Elder John Crocker ; James Parker, Esq., 
of Bedford, N. H. ; Elder James Pinkerton ; Rev. Amasa 
A. Hayes, pastor of the church in Londonderry ; Elder 
Samuel Burnham, his early preceptor ; Miss N. M. Clark, 
who was to have accompanied the late Rev. A. K. Hins- 
dale, as a missionary to Mosul ; Rev. Calvin Cutler, pastor 
of the church in Windham, N. H. He also published a 
" Century Sermon," commemorating the settlement of 
Londonderry, delivered April 22, 1819; a sermon at 
the ordination of Rev. Abijah Cross, over the first Con- 
gregational church in Salisbury, N. H. ; also two sermons 
on the Suprème Divinity of Christ, in 1827. These two 
discourses were considered an able defence of the truth 
they were designed to estabUsh. The Century Sermon 
may be considered as the germ of the History of Lon- 
donderry. It awakened much interest at the time, in 
regard to the early settlement of the town, and the edi- 
tion then published was soon exhausted. Apphcation 
being made to the author from time to time for copies of 
this sermon, which he was unable to supply, he was fre- 
quently urged to prepare a more full account of the early 
settlement and subsequent history of the town. But he 
feit that his ministerial duties were paratnount to all others, 
and that he cóuld not comply with such a request without 
interfering with his obligations to his parish. Nothing 
therefore was done towards the preparation of the work 



Xlvi MEMOIR. 

till four or five jears since, when he had made such ar- 
rangements in regard to his domestic aud sscular affairs 
as to allowhim more time forsuch a purpose. And even 
when he commenced the work, it was with the full purpose 
that it should not diminish the amount of his ministerial 
labors. If he ever departed from this purpose, it was 
only during the few last months of his life, when he evi- 
dentlj began to feel, that what he did must be done 
quickly. 

Mr. Parker W'as a man of stron"; and vio;orous consti- 
tution, which he retained in an unusual degree till nearly 
the close of his life. He was rarelj subject to sickness 
or disease of anj kind. For the first thirtj-six years of 
his ministry, he was absent from the pulpit onlj seven 
Sabbaths on account of ill health. About four years 
since, he experienced the first symptoms of the disease 
which finally terminated his life. It was a pain in the 
region of the heart, at first causing but little anxiety, and 
at no time affecting his general health, or his abiUty to 
devote himself to the ordinary duties of his office. Any 
unusual physical exertion, however, gave him consider- 
able pain. On consulting physicians in regard to the 
nature of the difficulty, it was pronounced a diseasa of 
the heart, technically called angina peetoris, Tliere was 
no occasion to apprehend any immediate danger from the 
disease, particularly as his health, during the last six 
months before his death, was generally good ; still, he was 
evidently convinced that hls life was precarious, and 
might at any time terminate suddenly, But he had no 
fear, in view of such an event ; he spoke of it from time 
to time, to some members of his family, with perfect com- 
posure. Indeed, he was never more cheerful, and even 



MEMO IR. xlvii 

playful, than during the few last months of his life. The 
last time his daughter visited him, he conversed freely 
>vith her respecting some plans he wished to have adopted 
in case of his death. In a letter to her, a few weeks 
before he died, he says : "J hope I can truly saj, I do 
not feel so much concern as to mj health and life on my 
own account, as on that of jour mother, and mj dear 
familj and people, for whose good I may yet be in some 
measure instrumental. We are truly happy when we 
can say : ' Not my will but thine be done.' " 

On the Sabbath, July 14, 1850, he exchanged with the 
Rev. Mr. Bay, pastor of the church in the Lower Village. 
In an obituary notice of Mr. Parker, Rev. Mr. Day says 
of his afternoon discourse on that day : " He preached 
his last sermon from the words of the prophet : ' The soul 
that sinneth it shall die.' There seemed to be an univer- 
sal conviction on the part of all who heard him, that it 
was one of the most solemn discourses he ever preached. 
His appeals at the close were heart searching, and seemed 
to prognosticate his own approaching dissol ution." At 
the close of the second service, he returned home. Later 
in the afternoon. he went to attend a third service at one 
of the school-houses in a distant part of the town. He 
preached with his usual earnestness on such occasions, 
and at the close of the meeting started to return. When 
he had gone about one half of the distance, and was a 
mile and a half from his home, his horse stumbled and 
feil. He ran back a few rods to Mr. Clark's, the nearest 
house, to call assistance. Undoubtedly feeling pain from 
the effort already made, and conscious of the danger to 
which he was exposed by over-exertion, he told Mr. 
Clark that he must return slowly, and would then aid 



xlviii MEMOIR. 

him in attending to the horse. On re turning to his 
carriage, and while stooping over his horse, either to 
prevent him from rising suddenlj, or to loosen some of 
the harness, Mr. Clark heard him groan, and saw him 
in the act of falHng forward. He immediately caught 
him in his arms, when he expired without a strug- 
gle, not breathing more than once afterwards. Thus 
ended the dajs of this faithful minister of the gospel. 
It was a fitting time to die, — in the midst of his labors, 
— on the Sabbath, after its duties were all performed, — 
and at the going down of the sun. Appropriately did one 
of his parishioners remark : " He served his Master faith- 
fullj all day, and went home to rest at night." It would 
have been gratifying to his friends could they have stood 
beside him as he breathed out his hfe, and received 
from him his last messages and parting blessing. But 
" what God appoints, is best." They know how he had 
lived, and they know what would have been the burden 
of his message to them and to the people of his charge, 
could he have spoken to them as he was entering another 
world. His remains, sustained in the arms of his young- 
est son, were borne home to his stricken family, who, 
while theymourned the loss of an endeared husband and 
father, bowed with becoming resignation to him who had 
afflicted them. 

His death occurred at so late an hour that it was not 
generally known that evening. But when, in the early 
morning, the long-protracted tolling of the bell announced 
that some unusual calamity had occurred ; and when the 
w^ord flew from house to house that their pastor had fallen 
dead in the street, the effect was overwhelming. More 
than twelve hundred of his flock had gone down to the 



MEMOIR. xlix 

grave since he had dwelt among them ; and now the 
pastor who had so often been in the midst of death, and 
seemed almost exempt ff om its power, had passed through 
the dark vallej. The deepest grief pervaded the whole 
parish. Everj one whom you met was subdued and 
solemn. Strong men turned aside from their labors, 
and sat in silence through the daj ; and some of the 
children in the schools were inconsolable with grief. 

His funeral was attended on the following Wednesdaj, 
bj a verj large assembij. His own parishioners, people 
from all parts of the town, and from adjacent towns, and 
an unusually large number of clergymen, came together 
to pay their last tribute of respect to their deceased 
pastor and friend. It was a pleasant summer daj, but 
all hearts were smitten with grief. After prajer at his 
late residence, bj Rev. Mr. Eels of Newburjport, his 
remains were conveyed to the church, and in the entrance- 
hall, an opportunitj was given to the assembij, as they 
successivelj entered the house, to take a last look of the 
deceased. It was a long time before this sad ceremonj 
was concluded, each seeming reluctant to turn awaj from 
the countenance upon which thej could never look again. 
The house was draped with mourning, and was filled in 
all parts. The services, which were of a verj solemn 
and appropriate character, were performed bj the Rev. 
Mr. Daj, of Derrj, Rev. Mr. Thajer, of Windham, Rev. 
Mr. Willej, of Goffstown, and Rev. Mr. Brainerd of 
Londonderrj. The deepest feeling w^as manifested bj 
the audience, and manj were bathed in tears. After 
these exercises, the whole congregation foliowed the 
remains to the grave, where thej now rest with those of 
all the pastors who had preceded him in that church. 



1 MEMOIB. 

At the grave, was sung the burial hjmn of Watts : " Un- 
veil thy bosom, faithful tomb," and then the mourning 
crowcl withdrew to meet that respected and revered 
pastor no more till the morning of the resurrection. In 
the afternoon of the Sabbath following, a highlj appro- 
priate sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Whiton, of An- 
trim, the early and intimate friend of Mr. Parker, from 
Psalm 116 : 15, " Precieus in the sight of the Lord is 
the death of his saints." On this occasion, also, as well 
as at his funeral, the assembij was verj large ; everj 
part of the house, including the aisles and entries, was 
filled. The services of the Rev. Mr. Day's society, a 
Targe part of whom had belonged to Mr. Parker's parish, 
were suspended, and pastor and people came to mingle 
their sympathies and to worship with that flock which 
was now left as sheep without a shepherd. 

The following is an extract from Dr. Whiton's sermon 
on that occasion : '' An intimacy of more than forty 
years with your departed pastor, drawn the closer by 
parity of age, by an almost contemporaneous entrance 
into the ministry, and by frequent association in presby- 
terial and ecclesiastical duties, has not only left on my 
mind a deep impression of his piety and worth, but enables 
me to speak with a degree of confidence on the leading 
traits of his character. 

" That he, or any other merc man, was faultless, it 
were foolish and even wicked to pretend. He saw and 
feit in himself the evil and demerit of sin, and fled for 
refuge to the blood of Christ. He ever appeared to 
walk, in a happy degree humbly with God, looking for 
salvation as the free, unmerited gift of mercy to the ill- 
deserving, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Next to his 



MEMOIR. li 

piety comes his prudence ; not the timid prudence that 
slirinks from duty, but the prudence that scrupulously 
shiins just occasions of oifence. In sound practical wisdom 
he excelled most others ; not making little things great, 
nor great things little, but estimating them according to 
their relative importance. This trait made him a safe, 
reliable counsellor, in cases the most perplexed. Even- 
ness and stability of feeling, consistency of conduct with 
principle, strongly marked his character. In point of 
industry and diligence, he was certainly preëminent, 
there being few men who had accomplished an equal 
amount of ministerial labor. This unremitting diligence 
made him familiar with his people, including the children 
of his parish, and was one of the means by which he 
preserved them in harmony and peace. Of his method 
and correctness, the records of the Londonderry presby- 
tery, kept by his hand for about thirty years, will remain 
a lasting memorial. Integrity marked all his trans- 
actions ; he was a man to be trusted. That crowning 
excellence, love of the religion of God, made him willing 
to spend and be spent in the service of Christ, in a con- 
tinuous course of effort for the salvation of souls. His 
investigations of Christian doctrines and duties were 
patiënt ; the subjects which passed through his hands 
were well weighed and lucidly presented to others. 

" He is gone ! ' God took him ' at the time and in the 
manner unerring wisdom saw best. Looking at our loss, 
we may well exclaim, ' Alas, my brother ! ' ' My father, 
my father, the chariot of Israël and the horsemen 
thereof ! ' Of the circumstances of his death, so sudden, 
surprising, affecting, it were needless to speak to those 
who know the details better than myself. The summons 



lii MEMOIR. 

found our brother where a Christian would wish to be 
found, at the post of dutj, intent on his Master's work. 
To him, the close of his last earthly Sabbath was, we 
doubt not, the beginning of a Sabbath, heavenlj and 
eternal. Probablj not a minister could have fallen in 
New Harapshire, whose death would have called forth 
a larger tribute of regrets and tears ! 

" You, the people of his charge, are witnesses how 
holilj and justly, and unblamably he walked among you ; 
yourselves are his letter of commendation, known and 
read of all men. Full well you know, that not often 
occurs a ministry attended with equal harmony and con- 
fidence, and honored with an equal number of seals of 
the divine approbation. Both yourselves and your 
children will cherish his name with long and affectionate 
remembrance.'' 

The following notices of Mr. Parker, which appeared 
in the weekly journals, though involving some repetition, 
are here inserted, as evidences of the estimate which 
others formed of his character and ministry ; they will 
also show that the filial interest of the writer has not 
led him to draw this brief sketch with too partial a hand. 

" Mr. Parker," says the Rev. Mr. Day, " is one of 
the brightest examples of ministerial fidelity which can 
be found in our State or New England. As a preacher, 
he was clear, close, and doctrinal. Ile well understood 
the wants and sympathies of the common mind, and never 
failed to furnish instruction. As a pastor he excelled. 
He was never weary in going from house to house, to 
inquire for the temporal and spiritual welfare of his 
people. He was peculiarly happy at the bedside of the 
sick, and with the mourner. He was deeply interested 



MEMOIR. liii 

in the young, and gave to them no small part of his 
energies. He well knew what stations they were to 
occupy in society, and how very soon they would be the 
leading members of his parish. He kept his eye on the 
Sabbath and common schools, and was sure to let every 
child know that he was interested in him. He has gone 
down to his grave like a shock of corn fully ripe, deeply 
lamented by his people, and the churches at large. 
He died as perhaps he might have wished to die, had he 
designated his own time and circumstances. He was in 
the work, Avith the harness on. His life might be written 
in the emphatic words of the apostle, and would furnish 
a most appropriate epitaph for his tombstone : " Not 
slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." 

" Mr. Parker," observes a correspondent of the Con- 
gregationalist, " was remarkable for his knowledge of 
human nature, and for his true Christian courtesy, — • 
an example of purity and consistency in his life ; ever 
laborious and faithful as a preacher and a pastor, he 
retained not only his post of duty, but what was more, 
the confidence and affection of his people. He died in 
the midst of his labors, and though less known than the 
great Scotch divine, will, like him, wherever known, 
be remembered and loved." 

The following is from the Congregational Journal of 
January, 1851 : " Soon after Mr. Parker graduated, he 
became the pastor of the Presbyterian church in Derry, 
then a part of Londonderry, which was in a condition 
far from promising and inviting ; but under his wise 
counsels, his unremitting labors, his self-possessed spirit, 
and admitted moral worth, attained to be one of the best- 
ordered, the most harraonious and flourishing in the 



liv MEMOIR. 

State. With very respectable powers of mind,« and 
eermons alwajs full of the marrow of the gospel, instruc- 
tive and cheering, if not the most deeply studied or 
eloquently delivered, still, the grand secret of his success 
was in his system and wisdom. He Uved and acted by 
a plan, from which he never deviated, and carried it out 
to the last hour of his life. Not that he was obstinate, 
self-opinionated, or incapable of seeing and appreciating 
improvements ; but he always made his changes by 
system and rule. He was always active, but never in a 
hurry ; never tired, but always werking. He was always 
at home, and yet in every nook of his parish ; he seemed 
to make no effort to do it, yet, strictly and truly speak- 
ing, he could call every child in his large parish by name. 
Not that he did this from a certain passion or affectation ; 
all was subservient to the great end of the pastoral ofl5ce, 
that he might ' save himself, and those that heard him.' 
Then, too, he was always judicious and wise. He never, 
so far as we know, made a false step or took an unten- 
able position. Naturally passionate, he was always cool 
and self-possessed ; encountering, once or twice, organ- 
ized and formidable opposition on account of the doctrines 
he preached, he vanquished it by forbearance and kind- 
ness, without the sacrifice of principle, and converted his 
bitterest enemies into his firmest friends. Rarely has 
any man done so few injudicious and unwise things ; as 
rarely has any man uttered so few injudicious, idle, or 
injurious words. He was a model pastor, and his name will 
long be held in affectionate and respectful remembrance." 
With much truth has it been said, by one of our most 
distinguished statesmen,* that " the noblest contribution 

* Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. 



MEMOIR. Iv 

which anj man can make for the benefit of posterity, is 
that of a good character. The richest bequest which anj 
man can leave to the youth of his native land, is that of 
a shining, spotless example." Sucb a legacy, emphati- 
callj, has the subject of this memoir left to his family and 
friends, to the people of his late charge, to the youth 
among whom he labored, to his brethren in the ministry, 
and to all who knew him. 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



CHAPTER I. 

ChARACTER op the PURITANS — EMIGRATIONS FROM SCOTLAND 
TO IRELAND — HOSTILITY OF THE NATIVE IRISH — INVASION OF 
IRELAND BY JAMES THE FIRST — UNSÜCCESSFÜL ATTEMPT TO 
TAKE POSSESSION OF LONDONDERRY — CRUELTY AND PERFIDY 
OF THE PAPISTS — SIEGB OF LONDONDERRY. 

To commemorate these scènes and events in which our 
ancestors participated, and in which we ourselves are inter- 
ested, is a duty, not only approved by reason, but enforced 
by divine authority. " Remember the days of old, consider 
the years of many generations ; ask thy Father, and he will 
show thee ; thy elders, and they will teil thee." Many are 
the lessons of wisdom to be derived from a careful review of 
ages past. 

To perpetuate the remembrance of important events, and 
impress a recollection of them upon the minds of succeeding 
generations, a variety of measures have been adopted. Pil- 
lars and monuments have been erected, and inscribed with 
appropriate records. Temples have been built, and festivals 
established, to commemorate noble achievements, and impor- 
tant revolutions. The annual feast of the Passover was a 
divine appointment, that the Israelites might not forget their 
deliverance from Egypt. The anniversary of the Declara- 
tion of our Independence is regularly observed by all Amer- 



a HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

ican patriots. Many of the sons of New England annually 
repair to the shores where their fathers first landed, and, by 
appropriate services, perpetuate the remerabrance of the 
charaeter and the deeds of those Pilgrims, who laid the 
foundation of our civil and religious institutions. 

Few, then, will doubt the propriety of recalling events 
which in their results affect posterity. Scènes in which our 
fathers or more remote ancestors were concerned, although 
they may be unattended by important consequences, have for 
us a special and peculiar interest. 

In reviewing the history of Londonderry, from its early 
settlement to the present time, it is not proposed to give a 
mere narrative of events, but to bring into view those princi- 
ples and institutions, connected with these events, to which 
the welfare of a community may be ascribed. a 

Before entering upon a detailed account of the emigration \ 
and settlement of the colony which planted themselves in Lon- 
donderry, in the year 1719, it may be useful to advert briefly 
to some of the circumstances and occurrences in the father- 
land, which constituted the great and leading cause of most 
of the New England settlements. And it will clearly appear, 
that it was religious principle which brought our fathers to 
this land ; that it was for conscience' sake they left their 
country and their homes, and " sought a faith's pure shrine" 
upon our bleak and inhospitable shores. 

Although, upon the Reformation, Protestantism early 
became the established religion in England, still, conformity 
in sentiment and modes of worship, as prescribed by the 
Episcopal Church, was enforced with such extreme rigor, 
that a voluntary exile seemed to many the most eligible mode 
of escaping from the penalties of non-compliance. The 
accession of Elizabeth had, it is true, quenched the fires 
of Smithfield, which had raged so violently in the days of 
Mary, and her long reiga had established the Reformation. 
" But toleration," it ha» been justly remarked, " was a virtue 



I 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. Ó 

beyond her conception, and beyond her age. She left no 
example of it to her successor, James the First, and it was 
not to be expected that a sentiment so wise or so liberal 
should originate with him." 

During the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First, various 
acts of Parhament were passed, regulating the religious afFairs 
of the kingdom, and requiring, under certain penalties, that all 
should adopt the established religion, in its articles of faith and 
modes of worship. ïliese acts excited the strong and deter- 
mined resistance of large numbers of all ranks, both in Scot- 
land and England, who fearlessly withstood this encroachment 
upon their rights, demanding greater simplicity and purity of 
worship than that allowed by the Church of England. Hence 
they were called, by way of reproach, Puritans. As their 
sufFerings under these oppressive acts tended to deter all, 
except the conscientious and sincere friends of Christ and of 
the purer worship, from uniting with them, the term, though 
otherwise intended, was adopted by them as significant of the 
superior purity of their religion and of their lives. 

Indebted as we are to them for much that distinguishes 
us, and misrepresented or misunderstood as their true 
character has often been, a brief sketch of their more prom- 
inent traits and characteristics, as drawn by that accom- 
plished critic and historian, Macaulay, may not be out of 
place. As he is a native of the country from which our 
fathers came, and a member of the Established Church, his 
views may be relied upon as just and impartial. '* We would 
speak," says he, " of the Puritans as the most remarkable 
body of men which the world has ever produced. The 
odious parts of their character lie on the surface. Nor have 
there been wanting malicious observers to point them out. 
For many years after the Restoration, they were the theme of 
unmeasured invective and derision. Most of their absurd- 
ities were external badges, like the signs of free masonry, or 
the dresses of friars. We regret that these badges were not 



4 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

more attractive. But the Puritans were men, whose minds 
had derived a peculiar character from the daily contemplation 
of superior beings and external interests." 

" Not content with acknowledging in general an overruling 
providence, they habitually ascribed every event to the will 
of that Great Being, for whose power nothing was too vast, 
for whose inspection nothing was too minute. To know him, 
to serve him, to enjoy him, was with them the great end of 
human existence. They rejected with contempt the cere- 
monious homage, which other sects substitutcd for the pure 
worship of the soul. Instead of catching occasional glimpses 
of the Deity through an obseuring veil, they aspired to gaze 
fuU on the intolerable brightness, and to commune with him 
face to face." 

" Hence originated their contempt for terrestrial distinctions. 
They recognized no title to superiority but the divine favor ; 
and, confident of that favor, they despised all the accomplish- 
ments and all the dignities of the world. If they were unac- 
quainted with the works of philosophers and poets, they were 
deeply read in the oracles of God. On the rich and eloquent, 
on nobles and priests, they looked down with contempt ; for 
they esteemed themselves rich in a more precious treasure, 
and eloquent in a more sublime language, — nobles by right of 
an earlier creation, and priests by the imposition of a mightier 
hand. Those had little reason to laugh at them, who encoun- 
tered them in the hall of debate or in the field of battle." 

" These men brought to civil and military affairs a coolness 
of judgment, and an immutability of purpose, which were the 
necessary effect of their zeal. The intensity of their feelings 
on one subject made them tranquil on every other. One 
overpowering sentiment had subjected to itself pity and hatred, 
ambition and fear. Death had lost its terrors, and pleasure 
its charais. They had their smiles and their tears, their 
raptures and their sorrows, but not for the things of this world. 
They had their minds cleared of every vulgar passion and 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. ö 

prejudice, and raised above the influence of danger and cor- 
ruption." 

Such were the Puritans, and suchwere they made by their 
religion. Although they had their faults, their false logic and 
their extravagances, the effect of the age in which they 
lived, yet in the excellence of their principles, and in the 
wisdom and result of their labors, they stand forth a noble 
race of men, superior to the ancestors of any other nation. 

To this class belonged the settlers of Londonderry. Al- 
though the fathers of these men differed from the Plymouth 
Company, with whom they were contemporary, in forms of 
church govemment, yet in all their views of divine truth and 
religious duty, in zeal and firmness to resist civil and ecclesi- 
astical domination, they fully harmonized with them, and 
were their fellow-sufferers, for conscience' sake. 

The emigrants who settled the town of Londonderry, were 
called the Scotch Irish, being the descendants of a colony 
which migrated from Argyleshire, in Scotland, and settled in 
Ireland, in the province of Ulster, about the year 1612. To 
this they were induced by the circumstance that, in the reign 
of James the First, on the suppression of a rebellion by his 
Catholic subjects, in the northern part of Ireland, two millions 
of acres of land, almost the whole of the six northern counties, 
including Londonderry, feil to the king. His Scotch and 
Enghsh subjects were encouraged, by liberal grants, to leave 
their own country and settle upon these lands ; and it was 
expected that those turbulent spirits, who had so often defied 
the authority and arms of the British govemment might, by 
this means, be awed and controUed. This will account, in some 
measure, for the enmity which was manifested by the Catho- 
lics, the native Irish, towards these Protestant settlers, who 
occupied the soil from which their countrymen had been forci- 
bly expelled. The great Irish rebellion, which occurred thirty 
years after, in the reign of Charles the First, had its origin 
in the animosity with which the Irish Catholics regarded the 

1* 



6 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Protestants, and in the desire they feit to wrest from them 
their possessions in Ireland. The plot of this general massacre 
was fortunately discovered in Dublin, on the day before the 
time fixed for its execution ; but in the other parts of the 
island, and particularly in Ulster, the most cruel and wanton 
destruction of lives and property ensued. According to some 
historians, no less than one hundred and fifty thousand per- 
sons perished. 

Large companies of emigrants from Scotland and England 
settled in Ireland as early as 1612 ; some years after, in the 
reign of Charles the First, they received accessions to their 
numbers ; but it was not until the latter part of the century, 
that the McKeens, (being four brothers,) the Cargills, the 
MacGregors, and probably many other of the settlers of the 
town of Londonderry emigrated. This they did to escape the 
military and barbarous executions of Claverhouse, in the 
reign of James the Second. 

This bigoted and infatuated monarch exhibited a hatred 
to Protestantism, and a devotion to Papacy, and, during his 
whole reign, strove most zealously to eradicate the one and 
establish the other. No one of the Puritan sects was so par- 
ticularly the object of his aversion as the Presbyterians of 
Scotland. While he was viceroy of that kingdom, during the 
reign of his brother, he had persecuted them with an unre- 
lenting severity, which he was in nowise disposed to mitigate, 
after he had ascended the throne. Those districts in which 
the Covenanters were most numerous were overrun by bands 
of soldiers, who practised the most wanton cruelties upon all 
who feil into their hands. Among the leaders of these bands, 
the most distinguished was James Graham, of Claverhouse, — 
" a soldier," says Macaulay, " of distinguished courage and 
professional skill, but rapacious and profane, of violent temper, 
and of obdurate heart, who has left a name which, wherever 
the Scottish race is settled on the face of the globe, is men- 
tioned with a peculiar energy of hatred. To recapitulate all 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. / 

the crimes by which this man, and men like him, goaded the 
peasantiy of the Western Lowlands into madness, would be 
an endless task." 

By such brutal persecution, in a land most dear to them, 
were the immediate ancestors of many of the men who settled 
the town of Londonderry indueed to flee to Ireland, and join 
their countrymen who had preceded them. But, even there, 
their repose was short. 

Although during the time of Cromwell, and for a few years 
after his decease, the Protestants were protected from the 
bitter enmity of the Irish Catholics, they were at length 
called to undergo privations and sufferings almost unparal- 
leled. The pages of history ean furnish but few instances of 
such undaunted bravery, unwavering firmness, and heroic 
fortitude, as were displayed by the defenders of the city of 
Londonderry, during its memorable siege in the years 1688 
and 1689. 

James the Second had during his reign greatly disaffected 
his English subjects, who were generally Protestants, by 
various injudicious attempts to reëstablish the supremacy of 
the Church of Rome. William, Prince of Orange, a Protes- 
tant, who had married Mary, the daughter of James, was 
encouraged by many in England to attempt a revolution, and 
ascend the throne. He accordingly coUected a fleet and 
army, and landed in England on the fifth day of November, 
1688. He met with no opposition, and was soon joined by 
the principal lords, with their forces. 

James, alarmed at his approach, and at the desertion of 
his subjects, escaped with his queen to France, where he was 
kindly received by Louis the Fourteenth, and encouraged to 
attempt the regaining of his throne. Though William was, 
with great unanimity, elected to the British throne, Ireland, 
whose inhabitants were principally of the Papal church, still 
maintained its allegiance to James. His army there re- 
mained stedfast ; and Tyrconnel, the Lord-Lieutenant, who 



8 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

was devoted to his interests, was actively engaged in raising 
and disciplining new levies of troops. 

Encouraged by these circumstances, and relying upon the 
promised aid of the king of France, James resolved to cross 
over to Ireland, and make a vigorous efFort to recover his 
crown. His plan of operations was, to raarch with his combined 
army directly to the north of Ireland, and, having subdued 
those places which offered any resistance, from thence to pass 
over to Scotland, where a considerable force of Highlanders, 
raised by Graham of Claverhouse, were waiting with impa- 
tience his arrival. Had not his course been intercepted by the 
bold and unexpected defence of Londonderry, he would have 
been able, strengthened by his many adherents in Scotland, 
and by a large number in England, who still favored his 
cause, to contend perhaps successfully with William, regain 
his throne, reëstablish Papacy, kindie anew the fires of mar- 
tyrdom, and crush the spirit of civil and religious freedom, 
which from that renowned revolution has been strengthening 
and extending its influence over the nations. So that this 
small city, fortified, not by military and naval armaments, 
but by Protestant Christian hearts devoted to the cause of 
religious freedom, became the arena upon which the fate of 
the liberties, not only of the west of Europe, but ultimately 
of this and other lands was to be decided. 

As the defence of this city was so important in its results, 
and particularly as a number of the early settlers of the town 
of Londonderry were among the heroic defenders of the 
place, and partook largely of the sufterings endured within 
its walls, a brief account of it may not be uninteresting. 

The American Protestant Society have recently repub- 
lished a narrative of the siege, drawn up by Rev. John 
Graham, a lineal descendant of one who was a distin^-uished 
actor in the scène. The sources from which Mr. Graham 
compiled his history, were the journals of the siege as kept 
by Captain Ash and Rev. George Walker, one of the gov- 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. » 

ernors of the city, and both of them active and influential in 
its defence. It is on tliis history, that Charlotte Elizabeth 
founds her attractive work, entitled " The Siege of Derry," in 
which the men, who then and there battled for Protestant 
freedom, and their deeds of might and long endurance, are so 
graphically described. And it is not undesirable that, at 
this day, when the true principle of religious toleration is 
coming to be understood and appreciated, the attention of 
those who are emerging from a state of religious intolerance 
should be directed to an event, in which are displayed, in 
striking contrast, the cruelty, perfidy, and oppression of 
Papacy, and the resolute, determined, unyielding spirit of 
Protestantism. 

The city of Londonderry, is the capital of the county of 
Londonderry, in the province of Ulster. It is one hundred 
and fifty miles north-west from Dublin. It is situated on the 
river Foyle, and contains about ten thousand inhabitants. It 
was an ancient city, but, having been sacked and destroyed 
in one of the many revolutions which mark the early history 
of Ireland, it was rebuilt, during the reign of James the 
First, by a company of adventurers from London, and hence 
received the name of Londonderry, the original name being 
Derry. About forty-five miles south of it, is the town of 
Enniskillen, the only place, with the exception of London- 
derry, which offered an efFectual resistance to the arms of 
JameSc 

The Protestants in Ireland, who had generally acknowl- 
edged the Prince of Orange, being apprized that James 
intended an appeal to arms, and that Tyrconnel was raising 
new troops and issuing commissions, began to put themselves 
in a posture of defence. This they were also induced to do, 
by a report of an intended rising of the Catholics, throughout 
the Island, on Sunday, the ninth day of December, 1688, to 
massacre the Protestants, without respect to age or sex. This 
rumor was the more readily believed, inasmuch as it was 



10 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 



observed that the Papists were supplying themselves vvith a 
kind of' knife called a skein, and other weapons, the priests 
suflfering no man to come to mass who did not thus arm him- 
self. Many eye-witnesses of the horrible excesses committed 
in 1641, still survived, and everywhere the most intense 
excitement and alarm prevailed. 

On the seventh day of December, the inhabitants of Ennis- 
killen were informed by a letter that two companies of soldiers 
were on their march to take possession of the town. Although 
their whole number did not exceed eighty, and they had but 
ten pounds of gunpowder, and twenty muskets, they boldly 
resolved not to admit the soldiers, and made active prepara- 
tion for defence. In a few days they received reinforcements 
of several hundred men, and on the sixteenth, they marched 
out, met the enemy a few miles from the town, and repulsed 
them without difficulty. From this time, until James was 
driven from the Island, the Enniskilleners not only bravely 
and successfully defended their town against every atterapt 
to reduce it, but by their frequent sallies did much to annoy 
and distress the enemy. 

Early on the morning of the seventh of December, informa- 
tion was received by the authorities of Londonderry, from 
George Philips, a veteran soldier, who had been once gov- 
ernor of the city, that a regiment of the newly-raised troops, 
under the command of Lord Antrim, were on their way to 
the town, and the Governor and council were advised not to 
admit them within the walls. The bearer of the letter also 
told them that some of the companies had then arrived within 
two miles of the place. This announcement produced the 
greatest alarm and confusion among all classes of the inhabit- 
ants, and the authorities were in much perplexity as to the 
bestcourse to be pursued. The admission of the unwelcome 
regiment within their walls, seemed to them tantamount to a 
desertion of the cause of William and of Protestantism, and 
a delivery of themselves up to the mercy of their cruel and 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 11 

bitter enemies. But, on the other hand, it seemed a bold and 
hazardous measure, to close the gates against them, scantily 
provided, as they then were, with the means to sustain a 
siege, and defend the city against the forces that might be 
brought against it. 

While they were in this state of doubt and uncertainty, 
two companies of the regiment appeared on the side of the 
river opposite the city, and their otficers immediately crossed 
over and demanded admission. The deputy Mayor, who 
was secretly a friend of James, was disposed to receive them, 
but objections were made by others. 

Some time having been spent in consuhation, the soldiers 
became impatient, and, fearing that they might be excluded 
from the city, without waiting for orders, crossed the river 
and appeared on the landing-place, near the Ferry-gate. A 
few young men of the city observing this, rushed to the main 
guard, seized the keys after a slight opposition, drew up the 
bridge and locked the gate just as the soldiers were about to 
enter. Others having come to their assistance, they imme- 
diately secured the three other gates. 

The names of these resolute young men " deserve," says 
the historian, " to be preserved in letters of gold, namely, — 
Henry Campsie, William Crookshanks, Robert Sherard, 
Daniel Sherard, Alexander Irwin, James Stewart, Robert 
Morrison, Alexander Coningham, Samuel Hunt, James 
Spike, John Coningham, William Cairnes, and Samuel 
Harvey." 

This decisive act had the effect of confirming the inhabi- 
tants of the city, and particularly the young men, in their 
determination to defend it at all hazards. Some few were 
heard to express their disapprobation of the measure, and to 
urge the opening of the gates. But their remonstrances were 
soon silenced. 

Meanwhile, the companies who had been excluded, were 
waiting outside the gate in great wrath and indignation, and 



12 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

though repeatedly warned to retire, they paid no heed to the 
admonition. At length, one James Morrison cried out, with 
a loud voice, " Bring about a great gun liere, " when they were 
seized with a panic, and recrossed the river with the utmost 
despatch. 

On theafternoon of this day, David Cairnes of Knockmany, 
in the county of Tyrone, a gentleman of high standing and 
respectabihty, came into the city, and ofFered his assistance. 
He highly approved of the course which had been taken, and 
commended the Prentice Boys, as they were called, for the 
courage and spirit which they had exhibited. His example 
was soon foliowed by other gentlemen from the surrounding 
country. Four days after, Mr. Cairnes set out for London to 
communicate to the government an account of the course 
adopted by the citizens of Londonderry, and of the imminent 
danger incurred by such vigorous and decisive measures, and 
to implore immediate assistance. 

The events of this day are justly entitled to a conspicuous 
place in the annals of civil and religious freedom. For had 
this regiment been admitted into the city, it would have been 
hardly possible for the inhabitants to resist the tyrant, intent 
upon regaining his throne and frustrating the revolution so 
happily begun by William. 

On the next day, the citizens were relieved of the imme- 
diate presence of Lord Antrim's regiment. Some welcome 
news of the success of prince William having that day been 
received in the city, the inhabitants, to testify their joy, dis- 
charged two of the largest guns upon the walls. This had 
the effect of striking terror into the soldiers upon the other 
side of the river, many of whom, being raw recruits, had 
never before heard the discharge of cannon. About the same 
time, one George Cooke drew up iifty or sixty boys in a line 
upon the bank of the river next the city. These, the cowards 
mistook for the advanced guard of a regiment, and their 
alarm now being complete, they Üed with precipitation. 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 13 

The means of defence wliicli the city at this time posseased, 
was entirelj inadequate to the emergeney in which it was 
likely soon to be placed. Nearly fifty years previous to this 
time, the London companies had presented to the city a 
large number of guns for the walls, but of these, not twenty 
were now fit for service. There was in the maorazine but 
six or seven barrels of gunpowder, and ten or twelve hundred 
muskets, of which the greater part were so much out of 
repair, as to be useless. There were, in the city, and in the 
suburbs, about six liundii-ed men capable of hearing arms, to 
which, two days after, was added a reinforcement of two or 
three hundred horse and a company of infantry, who came 
into the city and offered their assistance. " The town," says 
Graham, " was weak in its fortifications, the wall being, less 
than nine feet thick along the face of the ramparts, with a 
ditch, and eight bastions." 

Tyrconnel, aware of the importance of the possession of 
Londonderry, in January, 1689, sent orders to Lord Mount- 
joy and Lieutenant-Colonel Lundy, to march from Dublin, 
with six companies of troops, and take possession of it. The 
citizens of Londonderry having received Information of this 
movement, were at first disposed to refuse admission to the 
troops. So much confidence, however, was placed in the 
character of Lord Mountjoy, who was generally known and 
highly esteemed, that, on bis appearance before the city, they 
entered into negotiations with him, and finally consented to 
receive him and Lundy, and two of the companies, which 
were composed of Protestants, within the walls. This, how- 
ever, was done upon the express condition that the garrison 
should consist entirely of Protestant soldiers, and that the 
citizens should retain their arms. The remaining four 
companies, about one half of the men being Papists, were 
ordered to retire to quarters, at some distance from the city. 

Lord Mountjoy, to whom George Philips, who had been 
reinstated in the office of governor, resigned his authority, 

2 



14 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

clid not disappoint the expectations which had been formed 
of him. Ile imraediately gave directions for strengthening 
the fortifications, remounting the giins, repairing the muskets, 
and for placing the city in a suitable posture for defence. 
Considerable sums of money Avere raised among the citizens 
by siibscription, and exj^ended in the purchase of ammunition 
and arms, and in siich other modes as would contribute to 
the safety of the place. 

The course pursued by Lord Mountjoy being far froni 
satisfactory to Tyrconnel, he was soon recalled to Dublin, 
and the cliief aiUhority devolved upon Colonel Lundy, who 
was then in high repute as an experienced soldier and a 
zealous Protestant. 

About the first of March, Tyrconnel sent an army under 
the command of General Hamilton, into Ulster, who, after 
several skirmishes with armed bands of Protestants, appeared 
before the walls of Coleraine, a considerable town, about 
thirty miles north-west of Londonderry, on the twenty- 
seventh day of the same month. 

On the twelfth day of March, king James landed at Kin- 
sale, with about five thousand French troops, and immedi- 
ately proceeded to Cork. On the twenty-fourth, he made a 
public and iraposing entry into Dublin, where he remained 
until the eighth of April. 

On the twenty-first of March, very welcome supplies were 
received in Londonderry, from England, consisting of four 
hundred and eighty barrels of guni)owder, and arms for two 
thousand men. They were brought by Captain James 
Hamilton, who was-also the bearer of a considerable sum of 
money for the garrison, and of a commission from kino- 
William to Colonel Lundy. 

Wlicn the government of the city was first intrusted to 
Lundy, all had the utmost confidence in liis skill and fidelity. 
But his conduct had been such as to excite in many the 
suspicion that he was secretly in the interest of James : a 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 15 

suspicion wliich, as it afterwards appeared; was too well 
founded. But liis treaclieiy was not as yet sufficiently man- 
ifest to warrant an impeachment, and he still continued to 
hold his power, and to thwart, as far as he could witli safety, 
the well-concerted plans of the Protestants. 

About the tenth of April, Information was received, by 
Rev. George Walker, that the Irish army were approaching 
Londonderry, and he imraediately communicated this intelli- 
gence to Lundy. Mr. Walker was Rector of the parishes of 
Donoiighmore and Erigal Keeroge, in the county of Tyrone, 
and, although at an advanced age, entered with true Christian 
zeal into the contest, and, girding on the sword, plaeed him- 
self at the head of a regiment which he had raised. Lnndy 
affected to believe the news a false alarm, and took no 
measures to prevent the approach of the hostile army. On 
the thirteenth, the enemy, under General Hamilton, appeared 
upon the opposite side of the Foyle, but the river was then 
so s wollen by recent rains, that they found it impossible to 
cross it at that place. \ Had proper arrangements been made 
to guard the passes of the river, the enemy might easily have 
been prevented from crossing it ; but by tlie treacherous 
management of Lundy, they were not only suffered to cross 
it on the fifteenth, buf his own troops were unnecessarily 
exposed to be cut in p^ces. 

On the fifteenth of April, Colonel Cunningham and 
Colonel Richards sent to Lundy, informing him that they 
had arrived in Lough Foyle Avith two well-disciplined regi- 
ments, and desired his%rders in regard to their disembar- 
kation. The perfidious governor assembled a council of war, 
but such were his representations and such his influence in 
the council, that they came to the decision that the place 
wasuntenable, and that it could not long withstand the forces 
with which it would soon be invested. The commanders of 
the two regiments deemed it inexpedient to land them, or 
the ammunition sent by Parliament for the rehef of the city. 



16 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

They conseqiicntly Avitliclrew to tlieir ships, and returned 
witli tlieir rcgiments to England, where tliej were immedi- 
atelj and deservedly cashiered. 

Liindy continued to exert such an influence, and to adopt 
sucli measures, as to induce the council, on the seventeenth 
of April, to signify tliat they were willing to capitulate iipon 
an assurance of iudemnity for their past resistance. King 
James had just arrived from Dublin, witli about fifteen 
thousand trooj)s, and the proposal to surrender upon any 
terms was most acceptable to him, as the success of his whole 
plan of operations evidently depended upon his speedy pos- 
session of Londonderry. Accordingly, on the next day, he ad- 
vaneed at the head of his entire army to a hill within cannon- 
shot of the city, for the purpose of receiving their submission. 

At this crisis, Captain Murray, a brave and gallant 
country gentleman, arrived, at the head of a company of 
horse, and entered the city in spite of the efforts of Lundy to 
prevent him. Murray's expostulations and harangues had 
such an effect upon the soldiers on the walls, that they opened 
upon the enemy a terrible discharge of cannon and musketry, 
Avhich was continued until night, a reception very different 
from that which James had been led to expect. 

Notwithstanding the occurrences of the day, Lundy still 
proceeded in his attempt to surrender the city. Murray, 
" whose jDresence," says one, " struck a cold damp in the 
governor and council, but inspired the men on the walls 
with vigor and resolution," announced his determination, not 
only to jirevent a surrender, but to suppress Lundy and his 
council. Others seconded Murray in this resolve, and all 
who were willing to unite with them, were requested to 
signify it by wearing a white cloth upon their left arm. 

Several Ihousands adopted the badge, and no time was lost 
in deposing the perfidious governor. " He stole off," says 
one historian, " with a load upon his back, a disgraceful 
disguise, and suited to him who bore it." 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 17 

On the day after tlie departure of Lundy, the people 
united in the choice of Rev. George Walker, and of Colonel 
Heniy Baker, as joint governors, who undertook their 
weighty trust with the determination to defend the place, to 
whatever extremity of suffering they might be reduced. 

The total amount of men and officers at this time within 
the city, was upward of seven thousand ; several regiments 
and companies which had been raised for the defence of other 
places having retired to Londonderry on the approach of 
the Irish army. The number of women, children, and men 
incapable of hearing arms, was about twenty thousand, and 
it seemed improbable that their pro\ isions would be sufficiënt 
to sustain so large a number through a protracted siege. 

Another difficulty with which they had to contend, was the 
want of harmony between the different religious Siects or de- 
nominations of Protestants. So bitter were the feelings exist- 
ing between the members of the Established Church and the 
Dissenters, between the Conformists and the Non-Conform- 
ists, that, notwithstanding the common danger, they came, on 
one or two occasions, almost to an open rupture. The clergy 
and ministers, however, pursued a course most honorable 
and judicious. They exhorted their respective congregations 
to forget their distinctions, to dismiss their prejudices, and to 
unite for the defence of the Protestant religion, wliich was 
equally dear to all ; and, by their admonitions and example, 
they so far succeeded in reconciling these differences, that 
no serious evils resulted from them. 

The city was now invested on every side, except that next 
the water, by an army of twenty thousand men, under the 
command of General Richard Hamilton, a brave and skilful 
officer. The perfidy and cruelty with which James and his 
officers conducted this campaign was almost unprecedented. 
They seemed to act upon the maxim, ever a favorite one 
wdth the Catholics, " that no faith was to be kept with here- 
tics." The protections which were granted to Protestants, 

2* 



18 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

on the conclition of tlieir remaining neutral, were often disre- 
garded, and those holding them were frequently robbed of 
their estates and imprisoned. 

One or two instances, from several related by Mr. Gra- 
hara, will serve to show the character of the enemy with 
whom the Protestants had to contesnd. There was, in Grom 
Castle, a prisoner, Brian McGuire, who had been a captain 
in king James's army. Lord Galmoy wished for his release, 
and sent an express to Gaptain Greighton, proposing to ex- 
change for him Gaptain Dixy, whom they had taken prison- 
er ; pledging his honor that, if McGuire was sent to him, he 
would return Dixy without delay. McGuire was sent ; but, 
instead of fulfilling his promise, Lord Galmoy called a coun- 
cil of war, and put Gaptain Dixy, and his lieutenant, Charle- 
ton, on trial for high treason, and they were condemned to 
death, promises of life and preferment being made to them, 
if they would renounce the Protestant religion, and join 
king James's army. They were both young men, but they 
firmly rejected the base offer, and wisely prefered death to 
dishonorable life. McGuire, who had been given in ex- 
change for Dixy, warmly interposed in behalf of the prison- 
ers, and was so disgusted at being unable to save their lives, 
though at the expense of his own liberty, which he generous- 
ly offered to resign for them, that he resigned his commission, 
retumed to Grom, and would serve king James no longer. 
Galmoy, in the mean time, deaf to every remonstrance made 
to him, caused the unfortunate young gentlemen to be hanged 
on a sign-post ; and when they were dead, commanded their 
bodies to be taken into the inn, had both their heads cut off, 
and thrown out to the soldiers, who kicked them through the 
streets, as foot-balls. When the rufRans had sufiiciently 
gratified themselves and their brutal commander by this 
barbarous sport, the heads were set up on the market-house 
of Belturbet. 

Galmoy marched in a few days afterwards towards London- 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 19 

deriy, and passing througli Tyrone, perpetrated anotlier act 
of more than usual enormity. At Omagli, he took two men, 
father and son, on pretence of their having taken up arms 
for their own defence. He first caused the son to hang his 
father, and carry his head through the streets, crying, " This 
is the head of a traitor," and then the young man himself was 
hanged. 

Nor were siich acts perpetrated by subordinate officers 
without the approbation of the fallen monarch. He sanc- 
tioned them, not only by word, but by act. A man named 
Maxwell had taken up arms to defend his house against the 
Rapparees, and for this he was condemned to death. His 
wife, after much solicitation, prevailed upon the sheriff to 
grant him a short reprieve. Then, accompanied by four or 
five small children, she appeared before the king, at Dublin, 
and on her knees presented a petition, praying his Majesty 
to pardon, or at least to reprieve, her husband. Although 
her request was seconded by many of the Irish nobility who 
were present, and were moved by the tears of the woman and 
her children, the stern reply of the king was, " Woman, your 
hushand shall die^ The sheriff received a rebuke for his 
humanity, and was commanded to hang the man immediately, 
Avhich was accordingly done. 

" This example," says Graham, " added a stimulus to the 
fury of the Romish soldiers against the Protestants, who 
were treated in the city, and under the immediate eye of the 
government, in the most barbarous manner. No Protestant 
could be out of his house after sunset without danger of his 
life ; several of them were assassinated ; and among them 
a poor tapster of an alehouse on the Wood Quay, who was 
thrown into the Liffey and drowned, merely as a frolic, and 
no notice whatever taken of it." 

The foUowing extract from the journal of Rev. Mr. 
Walker, describes the circumstances of the besieged soon 
after he was appointed governor of the city. 



20 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

"It did be^et amono; us some disorder and confusion, when 
we looked about us and saw what we were doing ; our enemies 
all about us, and our friends running away from us ; a gar- 
rison we had, composed of a number of poor people, fright- 
ened from their own homes, and seemingly more fit to hide 
themselves than to face an enemy. When we considered 
that we had no persons of experience in war amongst us, and 
those very persons that were sent to assist us had so little 
confidence m the place, that they no sooner saw it than they 
thought fit to leave it ; that we had but few horse to sally 
out with, and no forage ; no engineers to instruct us in our 
works, no fire works, not so much as a hand-grenade to 
annoy the enemy ; not a gun well mounted in the whole 
town ; that we had so many moutlis to feed, and not above 
ten days' provision for them, in the opinion of our former 
governors ; that every day several left us and gave constant 
intelligence to the enemy ; that they had so many opportuni- 
ties to divide us, and so often endeavored to do it, and betray 
the governors ; that they were so numerous, so powerful, and 
so well-appointed an army, that, in all human probability, we 
could not think ourselves in less danger than the Israelites 
at the Red Sea. When we considered all this, it was 
obvious enough what a dangerous undertaking we had ven- 
tured upon ; but the resolution and courage of our people, 
and the necessity we were under, and the great confidence 
and dependence among us on God Almighty, that He 
would take care of us and preserve us, made us overlook all 
those difficulties." 

A minute narration of all that transpired within and 
around the walls of Londonderry, from the middle of April 
to the middle of June, would be tedious and unf)rofitable. 
It would be a mere account of cannonadings by the besiegers, 
which were promptly returned by the besieged ; of assaults 
upon the city, of sallies from it, and of conflicts around the 
walls, in w^hich the Protestants were almost without excep- 
tion the victors. 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 21 

Tbe bomb-shells, liowever, wliicli were almost daily tlirown 
into the city, were productive of much injury and inconve- 
nience to the besieged. Bursting as they feil, they destroyed 
many lives ; many persons were wounded by them, and 
numerors buildings were overthrown. Great care was requi- 
site to protect the gunpowder from thera, which was efiected 
by placing it in deep cellars and dry wells. As there were 
numerous desertions from the city, it became necessary fre- 
quently to move the gunpowder, that the enemy might be 
kept in ignorance of the places where it was deposited. 

Mr. Walker has related two occurrences worthy of notice, 
" they being so considerable, in demonstrating that prov- 
idence which attended the defence of the town." 

There was at one time a large quantity of ammunition in 
the cellar of a Mr. Campsie, and it was thought advisable to 
remove it. The very next day after it was removed, a bomb 
broke into the cellar, and if the gunpowder had been there, 
the greatest destruction of life must have ensued. 

At another time, a bomb from the enemy broke into a 
cellar near the Butcher's-gate. Some persons were induced 
by curiosity to examine the cellar, to see what injury had 
been done, and there they found seven men lying dead, who 
had been secretly working at a mine, " and," says he, " if it 
had not been for so miraculeus a countermine, they might 
have gone on with their work and ruined us." 

By the middle of June the besieged began to suffer for 
want of provision, and were reduced to the necessity of 
saltino; and eatinor the flesh of the horses that were killed in 
the various skirmishes about the city. They obtained a tem- 
porary supply by digging up cellars and otlier places, where 
they found considerable quantities of meal and other provis- 
ion, which had been buried by those who had died or left the 
city. But they had the prospect of famine before their eyes, 
if they continued the defence, unless speedy relief should be 
sent them. 



22 HISTORY OP LONDÜNDERRY. 

In addition to this, sickness and disease became very prev- 
alent, owing to tlieir close confineraent, and the scarcity of 
pure water. By the concussion of the ground, caused by the 
bursting of the shells, the water in most of the wells became 
so muddy and impure as to be unfit for use, and a supply of 
this necessary article had to be obtained without the walls, 
with great difficuhy and perih 

On the thirteenth of June, the hopes of the brave defend- 
ers of Londonderry were much raised, by the sight of a fleet 
of thirty sail, in Lough Foyle. It was from England, sent 
for the reUef of the city, under the command of Major- 
General Kirke, and brought a reinforceraent of five thousand 
men and a supply of provision. The besieged expressed 
their joy by the firing of cannon, and also made signals of 
distress ; but Kirke, deterred by the batteries erected on each 
side of the river, made no attempt to send relief into tlie city, 
and sailed out of the harbor, to the great dismay of the dis- 
tressed garrison. 

General Kirke has been much and deservedly censured 
for his conduct on this occasion. Tlie boom which was 
afterwards thrown across the river, had not at that time been 
completed, and had he not been wanting in energy and 
humanity, he could, without much difficulty or danger, have 
relieved the city. The first appearance of the fleet in the 
river produced a visible consternation in the camp of the 
besiegers. Many were observed to strike their tents, and to 
make preparations for a speedy flight, and it is probable that 
if Kirke had but remained in the river until the next morn- 
ing, the enemy would before that time have decamped. 
General Kirke, on leaving the Foyle, sailed round into 
Lough Swilly, and fortified the island of Inch, which he 
considered a favorable position for holding communication 
with Enniskillen and Londonderry. 

On the eighteenth day of June, General Conrad de Rosen, 
a Frenchman, of much military skill, but haughty, unscrupu- 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 23 

lous, and cruel, appeared before the city with a reinforce- 
ment of fifteen hundred men, and topk the command of the 
besieging army. He expressed extreme contempt for the 
walls and other defences of the city, and swore that he could 
maké his men bring them to him stone by stone. 

Notwithstanding the discouraging circumstances in which 
they were now placed, the men of Londonderry did not 
waver in their determination to defend the city to the last 
extremity. Though they had suifered much, and must 
probably endure still more severe trials, they were well 
aware that the surrender of their strong-hold, would be the 
abandonment of Protestantism in Ireland ; and trusting that 
that Providence which had protected them thus far would 
continue to watch over them, they, on the very day of De 
Rosen's arrival, issued the order that no man, on pain of 
death, .should speak of surrendering the city. 

De Rosen, the French commander, despairing of being 
able to reduce the garrison by other means, at length had 
recourse to an expediënt unparalleled in atrocity. On the 
thirtieth of June, he sent into Londonderry a declaration 
that, unless they would surrender, before the evening of 
that day, he would drive all the Protestants from the sur- 
rounding country, men, women, and children, protected and 
unprotected, under the walls of the city ; and, if the gar- 
rison would not then surrender, he would put them all to 
the sword. This threat being received with contempt and 
indignation, on the next day Rosen issued his barbarous 
and cruel orders ; and his inhuman purpose, revolting to 
most of his own officers, was rigorously executed. "The 
Irish officers employed in this melancholy service," says Mr. 
Graham, "executed these orders with tears in their eyes, 
and many of them declared that the cries of these victims 
of cruelty, seemed to ring in their ears ever afterwards. 
General Hamilton was so shocked at the sight, that, in 
defiance of Rosen, his commanding officer, he ordered meal 



24 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

and other provision to be distributed among the wretclied 
groups, as they passed through the Irish camp." 

The besieged took no pains to conceal the rage which this 
inhuman proceeding excited. They immediately erected a 
gallows npon the walls, and threatcned that they would 
hang all their prisoners, unless their distressed friends and 
countrjmen were suffered to depart. The barbarity of 
Rosen, so far from having the effect intended, only strength- 
ened the garrison in their resolves to continue the defence 
of the city; and even the suffering crowds around the city, 
besought their friends npon the walls to leave them to 
perish, rather than to surrender to so merciless a foe. 

A letter from James, reprehending the course he had 
pursued, the sight of the gallows erected on the walls for 
the execution of the Irish prisoners, and the general feeling 
of abhorrence excited, as well in his own army as through- 
out the whole country, induced Rosen, on the fourth of July, 
to suffer the afflicted multitude, amounting to more than four 
thousand, to return to their homes. Hundreds, however, 
had died around the walls ; other hundreds died on their 
journey back ; and of those who succeeded in reaching their 
former places of abode, large numbers, finding their houses 
plundered or destroyed, perished for want of the necessaries 
of life. 

During the month of July, the most extreme distress was 
feit from the scarcity of provisions. Many died from starva- 
tion, and the garrison were reduced to the vilest and most 
unwholesome food. Horsefiesh, cats, dogs, rats, and salted 
hides were eaten. Tallow, which they humorously called 
Frencti butter, was mixed with meal, ginger, i)epper, and 
anise-seeds, and in this way, wliat they considered excellent 
pancakes were made. Towards the lat ter part of the month, 
a quantity of starch was discovered in one of the storehouses. 
This, mixed with tallow, was found to be not only a valuable 
article of food, but a remedy for the dysentery, which at that 
time prevailed. 



M 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 25 

The following is a list of tlie market prices of some of the 
principal articles of food : — 

A quarter of a dog, five shilliiigs and sixpence. 

A dog's head, two shillings and sixpence. 

Horseflesh, per pound, one shilling and eightpence. 

A cat, four shillings and sixpence. 

A rat, one shilling. 

A mouse, sixpence. 

A pound of tallow, four shillings. 

A pound of salted hides, one shilling. 

A quart of horseblood, one shilling. 

A handful of seawreck, twopence. 

So severe was the famine, that some expected to be com- 
pelled to eat the bodies of the dead ; and it is related, that 
one very corpulent man, imagining that some of the hungry 
soldiers regarded his body with a greedy eye, carefully con- 
cealed himself for several days. 

On the twenty-seventh of July, the city had come to an 
extremity from famine and disease which might well cause 
the most sanguine to despond. The garrison was reduced 
to four thousand four hundred and fifty-six men. There was 
not in the city two days' supply of food of any kind, and a 
strong boom thrown across the river, and the batteries 
on the banks, left but little hope of relief from the fleet. 
Deliverance, however, was at hand. 

Mr. Graham thus relates the occurrences of the twenty- 
eighth of July : — 

" Imraediately after divine service, the ships in the Lough 
were seen to approach the distressed city, now in the last 
extremity to which famine and disease could reduce it. The 
defenders of the city discharged eight pieces of cannon from 
the steeple of the cathedral, and slowly waved their crimson 
flag, to signify the extremity of their distress. With a fair 
wind and a favorable tide to facilitate the approach of the 
relief before their eyes, now or never was the simultaneous 

3 



26 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

cry of the feeble and emaciated multitude on the walls. 
The ships approaching were the Mountjoy, of Londonderry, 
Captain Micah Browning, commander, and the Phenix, of 
Coleraine, Captain Andrew Doughiss, master. They were 
both laden with provisions, and were convoyed by the Dart- 
mouth frigate, commanded by Captain Leake. The enemy 
fired incessanlly on the ships from the fort of Ctümore, and 
from both sides of the river, as they sailed up, and the returns 
were made with the greatest bravery and effect. They 
passed the fort without sustaining any material injury, and 
the exj)ectation of the besieged rosé into transports of joy, 
which were ahnost instantaneously succeeded by despair, 
when the Mountjoy, repelled by the boom, was run aground, 
and the enemy, who had crowded in multitudes to the water- 
side, raised a loud huzza, as they launched their boats to 
board her. The terror which prevailed in the city at this 
moment, is not to be described. The multitudes on the wall 
stood petrified in the silent agony of grief, too great for utter- 
ance ; a faint and shrill cry from a few women and children 
alone broke the dreadful silence, as it added to the horrors 
of the scène. The pallid indications of fear suddenly dis- 
appearing, were succeeded by a darkness of color, like that 
which marks the counienance seen by the light of sul- 
phureous flames. All features gathered blackness, and the 
general despondency was at its greatest height, when the 
Mountjoy fired a broadside at the enemy, rebounded from 
the shore, and the reaction of the vessel, aided by the sudden 
swell of the rising tide, floated her again into the deep water 
in the channel. Captain Douglass, of the Phenix, was ..t 
this time warmly engaged as he passed up, on the breaking 
of the boom by the gallant Browning, who, while his vessel 
lay aground, was killed by a musket-ball from the enemy, 
which struck him upon the head, as he stood upon the deck 
with his sword drawn, encouraging his men to the contest. 
King William afterwards settled a pension upon the widoAV 



I 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 27 

of this gallant man, and, in the presence of the court, placed 
a gold cbain about her neck. Four of Browning's gallant 
crew shared his fate, just as the vessel got afloat ; and then 
the Dartmouth opened a heavy and well-directed fire upon 
the enemy's batteries, diverting them so from both vessels, 
that, amidst a desponding yell from the crowds on each 
side of the river, they sailed up slowly, indeed, by reason of 
a failure in the wind after they had passed Culmore, but 
steadily and majestically, to the utter confusion of their 
baffled enemies. It was ten o'clock in the niglit when 
they anchored in the ship-quay, upon which a general shout 
of acclamation was raised by the soldiers on the walls, and 
reiterated several times, while two guns were fired from the 
steeple, to give notice to the fleet of the safe arrival of the 
relief/' 

" The Pheni:?t contained from six to eight hundred boUs 
of meal, with which she had been laden in Scotland, and the 
Mountjoy, carrying one hundred and thirty-five tons barden, 
brought from England her cargo of beef, pease, flour, biscuit, 
etc, all of the best kind. This relief," says Walker, *' arrived 
here to the inexpressible joy and transport of our distressed 
garrison, for we only reckoned upon two days' life. We had 
nine lean horses left, and one pint of meal to each man. 
Hunger and fatigue of war, had so prevailed among us, that 
of seven thousand fi^e hundred men regimented at the corai- 
mencement of the siege, we had now alive but about four 
thousand three hundred, of whom at least one fourth part 
^vere rendered unserviceable ! " 

'*^ " In the course of this night, the Irish army ran away from 
the position which they had occupied before Londonderry for 
one hundred and five days, having lost eight or nine thousand 
men and one hundred of their best officers, in their abortive 
attempt to reduce the city." 

It was deemed important to connect with the history of 
the town of Londonderry, a concise sketch of this memorable 
siege, for two reasons. 



28 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

In the first place, as has been already remarked, the 
defence of Londondeny, bj arresting and paralyzing the 
efforts of James, contributed largely to his ultimate over- 
throw, and to the establishment of a revolution so important 
not onlj to the British nation, but to the world. For not- 
withstanding James, during the summer of 1690, received 
reinforcements of men, and supplies of arms and ammuni- 
tion, from France, yet he was soon after defeated by the 
Protestant forces, commanded by king William in person, in 
an engagement on the banks of the river Boyne. The next 
year his army was again completely routed at Aghrim, and 
the capitulation of Limerick, his last strong-hold in Ireland, 
which soon foliowed, put an end to all his hopes of recover- 
ing his crown. 

Is the battle of Bunker Hill, in its connection with the 
results of the stand there made in the cause of freedom, so 
important, as to justify the erection of a splendid monument 
to teil the story to future ages ? The protracted siege of 
this little city, when its consequences are duly considered, 
will appear entitled to quite as conspicuous a place in the 
annals of freedom. And yet, important as it was, few 
comparatively, of the descendants of the brave defenders of 
the place, in this country, are familiar with the history of 
that event, upon which was suspended the rich inheritance 
they have received from their fathers, and which they are 
to transmit to future generations. 

In the second place, a short account of this memorable 
siege seemed to be necessary, as it serves to display the 
character of the first settlers of the town of Londonderry, 
most of whom were of the number of those who, on that 
occasion, fought so bravely, bied so freely, and endured so 
heroically, for their religion. Such tried spirits, such lovers 
of Christian liberty, were well prepared to encounter the 
hardships and endure the trials of forming a new settlement, 
and to lay the foundations of a community, which has been 



EVENTS PRIOR TO ITS SETTLEMENT. 29 

distinguishecl for its intelligence, its steadfast adherence to 
the great truths and institutions of religion, and its pros- 
perity. 

So important did tlie king and Parliament consider the 
defence of this city, and so highly did they appreciate the 
valor, the endnrance, and the worth of its defenders, that, in 
addition to the bestowment of certain grants, an act was 
passed, exempting from taxation, throughout the British 
dominions, all who had borne arms in the city during the 
siege. Of this act, those who settled in the town of Lon- 
donderry availed themselves, until the American Revolution. 
The lands occupied by such individuals were known and 
designated as the Exempt Farms. They can now be pointed 
out by some of the older inhabitants. 

These considerations, will justify the notice which has 
been taken of this event, which, as more recent revolutions 
serve to evince, was among the first and essential links in 
that great chain of providential dispensations, from which 
we derived our rich inheritance of civil and religious bless- 
ings. 

May the review serve to revive, in the breasts of the 
present generation, descendants of the English Puritan, and 
Scotch Covenanter, here happily and harmoniously mingled, 
a veneration for those principles which actuated their heroic 
ancestors. 



3» 



30 HISTORY OF LONDONDEKRY. 



CHAPTER II. 

The immediate causes of tiib emigration — arrival at boston 

sklection of a township — settlement of a pastor — 

intkoduction of the potato — manufacture of linen — 
petition for a charter — title to the land obtained — 
attempts to dispossess the settlers — incorporation of the 
town — fairs — origin of town organizations. 

Religious toleration, to the conception and acknowledg- 
ment of whicli the world has come so slowly, is a most 
j ust and most wise principle. It requires that every man 
be allowed the unbiased exercise of his own choice, as 
to the religious denomination, the creed, or the mode of 
worship which he will favor and snjoport. Religion being 
essential to the virtue, order, and best good of the community, 
every man is really, if not legally, bound to support religious 
as well as civil institutions ; but the sect or denomination 
should be left to his own free choice. But such freedom of 
conscience was unknown in the days of our fathers. 

In England even, notwithstanding the light and influence 
of the Reformation, various laws were passed, enjoining 
uniformity, not only in sentiment, but in forms of religious 
worship, subjecting all who refused compliance to severe 
penalties ; so that, on one occasion, the ever-memorable Bar- 
tholomew's day, a. d. 1GG2, two thousand f)ious and devoted 
ministers, among whom were Henry, Baxter, How, and 
Owen, — men eminent for piety and talents, were ejected 
from their parishes, separated from their beloved flocks, 
silencedfrom preaching, and thus deprived of all accustoraed 
means of support for themselves and families, merely for 
non-compliance with the act of conformity. 

This act required that every clergyman should be reor- 
dained, if he had not before received Episcopal ordination ; 



CIVIL HISTORY. 31 

sliould declare his assent to everything contained in the Book 
of Common Prayer ; sliould take the oatli of canoiiical obedi- 
eiice ; should abjure the common league and covenant, and 
should renounce the principle of taking up arms on any pre- 
tence whatsoever, against the king. 

It was these oppressive acts, in the days of Elizabeth and 
her predecessors, which induced the Puritan settlers of New 
England to seek in this newly-discovered land, a settlement 
founded on principles of religious freedom. It was a deter- 
mination not to submit to dictation in matters of faith and 
modes of worship ; to hazard everything, to endure every- 
thing for " freedom to worship God." No worldly or secular 
motive was sufficiently powerful to influence these men to 
exchange their native land, their pleasant homes, their 
beautiful fields, to abandon all that was endeared by the 
associations of life, for a hostile wilderness beyond the ocean. 
The love of religious liberty is a stronger sentiment, when 
fully excited, than attachment to civil and jwlitical freedom. 
That freedom which the conscience demands, and for which 
men feel bound by the hopes of salvation to contend, can 
hardly fail to be attained. " If the hand of power is laid 
upon it, this only seems to augment its force and its elasticity, 
and to cause its action to be more formidable and terrible. 
Human invention has devised nothing, human power has 
compassed nothing, that can forcibly restrain it when it 
breaks forth. Nothing can stop it, but to give way for it, 
nothing can check it but by indulgence. It loses its power 
only when it has gained its object." 

As the fathers of New England fled, not so much from the 
civil government as from the hierarchy, and the laws which 
enforced conformity to the Church establishment, so did the 
settlers of Londonderry emigrate, to escape religious rather 
than civil evils. Although by the revolution of 1688, and 
the accession of William and the House of Hanover to the 
British throne, the Protestant cause was firmly established, 



32 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

peace restorcd to the island in which they dwelt, and toler- 
ation of religious sentiments allowed; still, as Presbjterians, 
and Dissenters from the Church of England, they expe- 
rieneed many embarassments. 

They were, indeed, permitted to maintain their öwn forms 
of worshif) unmolested ; still, they were comjielled to aid in 
supporting a minister of the established religion, and a tenth 
part of all their increase was rigorously exacted for this 
purpose. They also held their lands and tenements by lease 
from the crown, and not as proprietors of the soil. With an 
inextinguishable thirst for liberty, they could not bear to be 
thus trammelled in their civil and religious rights. 

Their position in Ireland was uncomfortable, also, sur- 
rounded as they were with the native Irish, who adhered 
with tenacity to the Church of Rome ; and though they were 
then subjugated to Protestant power, and not permitted openly 
to persecute as they had done, yet a spirit of hostility still 
existed, and was in various ways expressed. Many circum- 
stances, in addition to the original strong traits of character 
which separate the Scotch from the Irish, had served to 
inflame and strengthen the enmity existing between them. 

Mr. Macaulay, adverting to the hostility existing between 
the Irish Catholics and the Protestants, who had settled in 
Ireland, says : " On the same soil dwelt two populations, 
locally intermixed, morally and politically sundered. The 
difference of religion was by no means the only difFerence, 
and was perhaps not even the chief difFerence, which existed 
between them. They sprang from different stocks. They 
spoke different languages. They had different national char- 
acters, as strongly opposed as any two national characters in 
Europe. They were in widely different stages of civiliza- 
tion. There could, therefore, be little sympathy between 
them ; and centuries of calamities and wrongs had generated 
a strong antipathy. The relation in which the minority 
stood to the majority, resembled the relation in which the 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



33 



followers of William the Conqueror stood to the Saxon 
churls, or the relation in which the followers of Cortez stood 
to the Indians of Mexico. 

" The appellation of Irish was then given exclusively to 
the Celts, and to those families which, though not of Celtic 
origin, had in the course of ages degenerated into Celtic 
manners. These people, probably somewhat under a million 
in number, had, with few exceptions, adhered to the Church 
of Rome. Among them resided about two hundred thou- 
sand colonists, proud of their Saxon blood and of their 
Protestant faith. 

" The great preponderance of numbers on one side, was 
more than compensated bj a great superioritj of intelligence, 
vigor, and organization on the other. The English settlers 
seem to have been, in knowledge, energy, and perseverance, 
rather above than belo^v the average level of the population 
of the mother country. The aboriginal peasantry, on the 
contrary, were in an almost sa vage state." 

It was in view of these embarrassments and evils expe- 
rienced in their native land, that this body of emigrants were 
disposed to leave their homes and the many comforts there 
enjoyed for an untried region, and the labors and sufiferings 
incident to a settlement in a new country.* 



* The rcsidence of the McKeens, MacGregors, Nesiniths, Dinsmoors, 
and many other of the emigrants to Londonderry, was in the valley of 
the river Bann, and in or near the towns or parishes of Coleraine, Bally- 
money, Ballywoolen, Ballywatick, and Kih-ea. 

A distinguished descendant of one of the carly settlers, writcs to the 
author, as follows : " On a voyage to the Old World, a few years since, 
I could not resist the inclination to visit the tcmporary resting-place of 
our forefathers, in Ireland. Not anticipating snch an exciirsion when I 
left home, I was misorably prcpared for taking advantage of what others 
knew, as to the exact location of our ancestors; I only knew that Lon- 
donderry, Coleraine, Antrim, Bidlymoney, and Belfast, were some of 
their i)laces of rcsidence, and of course could receivc only general appre- 
Ciations of their homes. Still, viewing the vast extent of excellent l^^nd, 



34 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

That sucli were tlieir motives, we learn from a manuscript 
sermon of the Rev. James MacGiegor, one of the four pastors 
who accompanied their flocks to Araerica, and the first min- 
ister of Londonderry. It was addressed to them on the eve 
of their embarking for this country. Ilis discourse was from 
those very appropriate words of Moses, when conducting the 
chosen tribes to the promised land : " If thy presence go not 
with me, carry us not up hence." 

In the application of the subject to their emigration, he 
States the following as reasons of their removal to America. 
1. To avoid oppression and cruel bondage. 2. To shun 
persecution and designed ruin. 3. To withdraw from the 
communion of idolaters. 4. To have an opportunity of wor- 
shipping God, according to the dictates of conscience and 
the rules of his inspired Word. 

They were, moreover, induced to contemplate a settiement 
in this land, by the favorable report of a young man, by the 
name of Holmes, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, who 
had visited this country. Encouraged by his representations 
of the civil and religious privileges which were enjoyed by 
the American colonies, his father, and three other Presby- 
terian ministers, James MacGregor, William Cornwell, and 
William Boyd, with a portion of their respective congre- 
gations, determined on a removal t?) this country. 

still uncultivated, the beauty of the scenery, the mildness of the winters 
(on the thirtieth of March, 1845, I saw peaches in fuU blossom, in the 
open air, at Bclfast,) I could not but rcalize that moral licroisin, which 
could inducc men, perfcetly ndvigcd of all they were to expect or obtain, 
to emigrate to the New World. Men in the most wild belief of the 
precious metals, will seek new countries with rccklcss disrogard of all 
consequcnces. Our Irish ancestors knew that ihey were Icnving a 
letter country for a poorer, (speaking agricullurally,) and with only the 
prospect of toil before tliem. Im.igination Icnt no eharms to the future. 
They must have had motives reaehing bevond the present. Their char- 
acters, and I believe the moral tone of the vast masses of their widoly- 
spread desccndants, leavc us in no doubt of the truc im]n)lscs which 
governed them." 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



35 



In order to prepare the way and secure a reception and a 
place of settlement on their arrival here, they dispatched, 
early in the year 1718, Rev. Mr. Boyd, with an address to 
governor Shute, of Massachusetts, espressing a strong desire 
to remove to New England, should he aiFord them suitable 
encouragement. They also empowered Mr. Boyd to make 
all the necessary arrangements with the civil authority for 
their reception. 

The address is very concise and appropriate, and is signed 
by two hundred and seventeen, each subscribing his own 
name in a fair and legible hand, except ^^^eriijvhose marks ^Mi^lJuU^^ 
are affixed. That so large a proportion, in the circumstances 
in which they were 2:)laced while in Ireland, were able to 
write, is a fact that serves very clearly to show that, as a 
company, they were superior to the common class of emi- 
grants. Nine of the subscribers were ministers of the gospel, 
and three others were graduates at the university in Scot- 
land. The document is on parchment, in a good state of 
preservation, and may be regarded as a valuable relic of 
these early adventurers to this land. A copy is inserted in 
the Appendix, and it will no doubt be gratifying to many to 
observe, in the list of subscribers, the names of ancestors 
whom they have been accustomed to venerate. It would have 
given greater interest could a fac-simile of the names, as 
they appear on the manuscript, have been presented. 

Mr. Boyd received from governor Shute the desired 
encouragement. On communicating it to his friends in 
Ireland, by whom he had been commissioned, they immedi- 
ately converted their property into money, embarked in five 
ships for Boston, and arrived there August 4, 1718. 

That portion of the emigrants who had been the charge of 
Rev. Mr. MacGregor in Ireland, and others who joined them, 
wished to unite, that they might continue to enjoy his labors 
as their pastor, Among this number were the McKeen 
families, with their connections. 



B^ JL 31) -av 




36 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

James McKeen, brother-in-law to Mr. MacGregor, and 
who appears to have been the leading influential member of 
this body, on conferring with governor Shute, was informed 
that there was good land in the vicinity of Casco Bay, Me., 
which they might have, and where they coiild carry into 
effect their jiarticular design as a community, and secure the 
enjoyment of religious ordinances under the ministry of their 
favorite teacher. 

Another portion of this company of emigrants repaired to 
Worcester, and there attempted to form a settlement and 
enjoy religious privileges under the ministry of one of the 
pastors who had accompanied them to this country. And 
although they were an industrious, orderly, worthy, and 
pious congregation, yet, in consequence of their being foreign- 
ers, especially from Ireland, and introducing the Presby- 
terian mode of worship, which was before unknown in New 
England, the prejudices of the Congregational communities 
in Worcester were so strong and bitier towards them, that 
they were compelled to leave the place. They in conse- 
quence separated and were dispersed through the country. 
Some of these families settled in Coleraine, some in Palmer, 
some in Pelham, and some in other towns in Massachusetts ; 
and being joined by emigrants, from time to time, from the 
old country, formed those Presbyterian societies which 
existed for many years in these several towns. 

A considerable number of this body of emigrants, on 
arriving at Boston, saw fit to remain in that city ; and, uniting 
with those of their countrymen of their own faith, whom they 
found there, formed the iirst Presbyterian church and soci- 
ety, over which the Rev. John Morehead was installed 
pastor. It was at first styled the Presbyterian church in 
Long Lane, — subsequently Federal Street. 

Sixteen of the families who had purposed to form a distinct 
settlement, and become the charge of the Rev. Mr. Mac- 
Gregor, embarked in a vessel for Casco Bay, in order to 



CIVIL HISTORY. 37 

select a township ; while the remaining families, with Mr. 
MacGregor, retired from Boston into the country ; some to 
Andover, others to Dracut, until a suitable tract of land 
should be found for a permanent settlement. 

The party that left Boston for Casca Bay, arrived there 
late in the season ; and it proving to be a very early and cold 
winter, the vessel was frozen in. Many of the families, not 
being able to find accommodations on shore, were obliged to 
pass the whole winter on board the ship, suffering severely 
from the want of food, as well as of conveniences of situation. 

Willis, in his History of Portland, referring to this event, 
says : "In the autumn of 1718, a vessel arrived- in the har- 
bor of Falmouth, now Portland, with twenty families of emi- 
grants from Ireland. They were descendants of a colony 
from Argyleshire in Scotland, and settled in the north of 
Ireland about the middle of the seventeenth century. They 
were rigid Presbyterians, and fled from Scotland to avoid the 
persecutions of Charles the First. They suffered severely 
during the winter here; their provisions failed, and our 
inhabitants had neither shelter nor food sutficient for so large 
an accession to the population. In December, the inhab- 
itants petitioned the General Court at Boston for relief. 
They stated their grievances as foUows : That there are now 
in the town about three hundred souls, most of whom are 
arrived from Ireland, of which not one half have provision 
enough to live upon over winter, and so poor that they are 
not able to buy any, and none of the first inhabitants so well 
furnished as that they are able to supply them ; and they 
prayed that the Court would consider their desolate circum- 
stances, by reason of the great company of poor strangers 
arrived among them, and take speedy and effectual care of 
their supply. On this application, the Court ordered that 
one hundred bushels of Indian meal be allowed, and paid 
out of the treasury, for the poor Irish people mentioned in the 
petition." It is subjoined, in a note to this record, " That 

4 



38 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

James McKeen, the grandfather of the first president of 
Bowdoin College, was of this company, and the agent who 
selected the land on which they settled." 

On the opening of spring, the little colony prepared to 
commence an examination of the territory to which they had 
been directed by governor Shute. As they disembarked in 
this new country, to which they had come to seek a residence 
for themselves and their descendants, they assembled, accord- 
ing to tradition, on the shore, and joined in acts of religious 
worship, devoutly acknowledging the divine goodness iti 
their préservation upon the great deep, and during the un- 
usually severe winter which they had experienced. No one 
of their number had suffered by sickness, or been removed 
by death. Standing on the shore of the ocean which sep- 
arated them from their native land, they ofFered their devoUt 
praises in that " most touching of all songs," the orle hundred 
and thirty-seventh psalm. As they surveyed the unsubdued 
and uninhabited country around them, and looked back upon 
the homes of their youth, and upon the blessings and coih- 
forts which they had there possessed, amidst their tnany 
trials, they were ready to hang their harps upon the willows, 
and say, " How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange 
land!" But they looked forward, with hope and constancy, 
to the attainment of the great object for which they had 
come, religious freedom. And as they renewed their cove- 
nant vows, and called to mind the persecuted, süffering state 
óf the church in their native land, they could with fixed 
determination say, as did the Jewish captives, " If I forget 
thee, O Jerusalem, lét my right hand forget her cunning; if 
I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof 
of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." 

They were not men to be put back or turned aside by 
obstacles. They had counted the cost of their undertaking, 
and were prepared to meet it. After having explored for 
sóine distance the country eastward from Casco Bay, and 



CiyiL HISTORY. 39 

finding no tract of land that pleased them, they concluded to 
return; and, directing their course westward, entered the 
Merrimack, which they ascended to Haverhill, where they 
arrived the 2d of April, old style. While at Haverhill, they 
heard of a line tract of land about fifteen miles distant, called 
Nutfield, on account of the abundance of the chestnut, butter- 
nut, and walnut-trees, which distinguished the growth of its 
forests. The men, leaving their families at Haverhill, came 
and examined the tract ; and, ascertaining that it was not 
appropriated, they at once decided here to take up the grant 
which they had obtained from the government of Massa- 
chusetts, of a township twelve miles square of any of her 
unappropriated lands. 

Having selected the spot on which to commence their 
settlement, and having built a few temporary huts, which 
they left in charge of two or three of their number, they 
returned to Haverhill to bring on their families, their pro- 
visions, their implements of labor, and what little household 
furniture they could collect. A part of the company return- 
ed from Haverhill by the way of Dracut, where Mr. Mac- 
Gregor had passed the winter in teachmg, that they might 
bring him with them ; the others came more directly. The 
two parties arrived at about the same time, and met, as 
tradition says, at a spot ever after termed Horse Hill, from 
the fact of their having there tied their horses, while they sur- 
veyed the territory around. The day of their arrival here, 
and on which the settlement commenced, was the eleventh 
day of April, old style, 1719. 

Mr. MacGregor, on meeting this portion of his beloved 
flock, from whom he had been separated some months since 
their arrival in America, and on the spot so happily selected 
as the place of their future residence, made an affectionate 
and impressive address, in which he congratulated tliem on 
the propitious termination of their wanderings, their signal 
preservation as a company while crossing the ocean, and 



40 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

since their arrival in this country, and exhorted them to 
continued confidence in God, planted as they now were in 
the wilderness, and strangers in a strange land. 

Having with them explored more fully the territory which 
had been selected as a township, and made some general 
arrangements as to their future proeeedings, he returned to ' 
his family in Dracut. Before leaving them, he delivered, 
April 12th, under a large oak, on the east side of Beaver 
Pond, the first sermon ever preached in this town. His 
text was from the prophecy of Isaiah, 32 : 2, " And a man 
shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the 
tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place ; as the shadow 
of a great rock in a weary land." Then, for the first time, 
did this wilderness and solitary place, over which the savage 
tribes had for centuries roamed, resound with the voice of 
prayer and praise, and echo to the sound of the gospel. The 
spot where this religious service was held, especially the tree 
around which they assembled, was long after regarded with 
a degree of reverence, not unlike that feit by the patriarch 
in regard to the spot on which he rested, when favored with 
the heavenly vision. On the prostration of this venerable 
oak through decay, the owner of the field in which it stood 
planted a young apple-tree among its decayed roots, which 
is now a thrifty tree, and will long serve to designate the 
venerated spot.* 

The field on which they first erected their rude cabins, 
as a temporary accommodation for their families, and which 
they cultivated the first year in common, lies not far from 
the tumpike as it crosses West-running Brook, and has ever 
since been called " the common field." 



* It has been suggested, that as therc are so maiiy ploasing associa- 
tions connectcd with it this spot, well dcscrves somc more cnduring 
racmorial : and for this object, it has been proposcd that a granitc 
obelisk, hearing appropriate inscriptions, sliould at some early day be 
erected in place of the tree. It is hoped that the snggestion will meet 
with a prompt response. See last page of Appendix. 



C^VIL HISTOBY. 41 

As soon as the company of settlers had organized them- 
selves into a religious society, in order to the full and stated 
enjoyment of divine ordinances, which was the leading object 
of their eniigration, they proceeded, according to the pre- 
scribed order of the Presbyterian church, to present in due 
form a call to the Rev. James MacGregor, to become their 
pastor. 

Some of them had been his pastoral charge while in 
Ireland, and all were well satisfied as to his worth, and his 
distinguished gifts as a minister of Christ. Sometime in May 
following, Mr. MacGregor, in compliance with their call, 
removed with his family from Dracut to their settlement, 
and assumed the pastoral charge of the society. As no 
'presbytery then existed in New England, there could be no 
formal instailation ; nor was it essentially needful ; as IVIr. 
MacGregor had received ordination some years before, in 
Ireland. A formal and public recognition of the ecclesias- 
tical relation thus formed between them, was all that in this 
case was requisite. 

Accordingly, on a day appointed for the purpose, the 
people having assembled, he, in connection with appropriate 
religious services, solemnly assumed the pastoral charge of 
the church and congregation ; and they with like solemnity, 
and by a formal act, received him as their pastor and spirit- 
ual guide. 

He preached to them on the occasion from those appro- 
priate, and, as it regarded this infant settlement, truly 
prophetic words (Ezekiel 37 : 26), "Moreover, I will make a 
covenant of peace with them ; it shall be an everlasting 
covenant with them ; and I will place them, and multiply 
them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for 
evermore." 

Having shown that it is the Lord who places a people in 
a land ; multiplies them therein, and affords them the ordi- 
nances of religion, he reminded his brethren, that " they 

4* 



42 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

should devoutly acknowledge the providence of God in all 
past changes, particularly in their emigration to this new 
world ; that they should live by faith in what was before 
them; fervently pray that God would continue to bless 
them ; be firmly united one with another ; walk in the fear 
of God, and keep his charge."* 

These discourses, delivered by their venerated author on 
occasions so interesting, are noticed, for the purpose of show- 
ing that the removal and settlement of this company of emi- 
grants was from religious principle, and in reliance upon the 
divine guidance and protection. And has not the promise 
contained in the inspired passage from whicli he addressed 
his little flock, been most strikingly fulfiUed in respect to the 
settlement they were then commencing ? God, in his provi- 
dence, not only planted them here, but greatly multiplied 
them, so that from this settlement many others were early 
formed. It proved a most fruitful vine. He also set his 
sanctuary in the midst of them, and has continued to them 
and to their descendants in this place, without interruption 
for more than a century, the ordinances of religion. From 
that memorable day on which this sermon was preached, 
and the Christian ministry established among this people, 
to the present, a period of one hundred and thirty years, 
they have at no time been destitute of a settled ministry, 
and the full enjoyment of gospel privileges. The churches 
and religious societies here early established, have been 
signally preserved and prospered ; retaining, amidst the 
many changes and divisions in surrounding communities, the 
same faith, and the same mode of church government and 
religious worship, originally adopted. 

This stability may, in part, be attributed to their staid 

* The original manuscript of this sermon, with ether manuscript 
sermons of Rev. James MacGregor, is now in the possession of Rev. 
John M. Whiton, D. D., of Antrim, N. II. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 43 

attachment to the Presbyterian doctrine and discipline, as 
observed by the Church of Scotland. Presbyterianism, as 
adopted by the Reformers, and introduced into that country 
from Geneva, by John Knox, the celebrated Scotch Reformer, 
is opposed to the prelatic power of Episcopacy, on the one 
hand, and the independency of Congregationalism on the 
other ; guarding the church ahke against a despotic govern- 
ment and a pure democracy. It adopts a form of govern- 
ment truly scriptural, as the representative form existed 
both in the Jewishand Christian church; and, while efficiënt 
in its administration, is in full accordance with the principles 
of liberty and equaHty in the church. lts judicatories bear 
a striking resemblance to those adopted under a free repub- 
lican government. And while they unite and protect the 
whole body of professed disciples, they secure to each indi- 
vidual his full and perfect rights and influence. Every 
Congregational church, as it respects ecclesiastical govern- 
ment, is a separate and independent body ; while a Presby- 
terian church is under the care, and subject to the control, of 
the presbytery, which, in its turn, is subject to the synod, and 
that again to the general assembly, all representative, though 
permanent bodies. The pastor and a certain number of 
elders in each church, elected to this office by its members, 
constitute what is termed a Session, for the transaction of its 
affairs. As Congregationalism was first introduced into 
New England, it became the prevailing order of church 
government ; and although, through the illiberal spirit which 
marked that age, Presbyterianism for a time met with iegis- 
lative as well as ecclesiastical opposition, yet eventually the 
members of that church were left to the free and uninter- 
rupted enjoyment of their own forms of worship. And 
though differing in the external order of Christ's house, yet, 
being built upon the same precious foundation, the greatest 
harmony has long prevailed, in New England, between the 
Presbyterian and Congregational denominations ; and we 



44 * HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

should deplore anything which would mar the union that so 
happily exists. While the one can serve God in their more 
free organization, the growth of more than two centuries, 
the other, rejoicing in the greater sti'ingency of their system, 
can iirge on the work of the blessed Redeemer, until all his 
followers shall see eye to eye, and the watchmen on the 
walls of Zion, lift up their voice together. When the oom- 
mon foes threaten to sweep away all that is holy and true, 
especially does it behoove the sons of the Puritans, and the 
descendants of the Covenanters, to grasp the Standard, and 
do battle for Christ's crown and covenant. 

Those who first composed the settlement, were the follow- 
ing sixteen men with their families, namely : — 

James McKeen, John Barnett, Archibald Clendenin, John 
Mitchell, James Sterrett, James Anderson, Randal Alex- 
ander, James Gregg, James Clark, James Nesmith, Allen 
Anderson, Robert Weir, John Morrison, Samuel AUison, 
Thomas Steele, and John Stuart. These pioneers of the 
settlement were most of them men in middle life, robust, 
perse vering, and adventurous, well-suited to encounter the 
toils and endure the hardships of such an undertaking. 
Most of them attained to advanced age. They lived to see 
their descendants settled around them, and the forest into 
which they had penetrated converted into a fruitful field. 
The average age of thirteen of the number, of whose age 
alone we have any record, was seventy-nine years ; six 
attained to nearly ninety, and two surpassed it. John 
Morrison, the oldest of this company, lived to the advanced 
age of ninety-seven years. 

In order to secure the advantages of near neighborhood, 
and be thereby the better protected against the attacks of 
the Indians, in case of hostilities, with which the colonies 
were at the time threatened, these first families plantod 
themselves on each side of a small brook, which, from the 
direction of its course, they called West-running Brook. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 45 

And they decided that their home-lots should be but tbirty 
rods wide, fronting the brook, and to be extended back on a 
north and south line, until they made iip sixty acres each. 
By such an arrangement, their dwellings were brought into 
close vicinity, and formed what has ever since been termed 
the Doublé Range. This range was, for more than half a 
century, an interesting and populous section of the town. 
But the houses, once inhabited by flourishmg families, have 
been one after another removed or demolished, and nothing 
now remains but the half-filled cellar to mark the place where 
they once stood. This arrangement in the early location of 
their dwellings, although it afforded them the advantages of 
neighborhood, and greater protection in case of assault, was, 
however, not so favorable to the uniform division of the 
township into lots, and the regularity of the highways. The 
multiplicity of the roads, bending in every direction to 
accommodate, as it would seem, the settlers, as they planted 
themselves, without any previous plan, in different parts of 
the town, and the consequent trouble and expense which 
have been realized in straightening and improving them, 
may be traced to this injudicious arrangement in the early 
settlement. 

Being at the time a frontier town, and exposed to a savage 
foe, in consequence of a war with the eastern Indians, which 
broke out soon after their arrival, they erected two stone 
garrison-houses. These were strongly built, and well pre- 
pared to resist an attack. To these the several families 
retired at night, whenever danger from the foe was appre- 
hended. There was, however, one of their number, James 
Blair, a man of giant stature an(^ of fearless courage, who 
scorned thus to shelter himself from his Indian enemies. 
He would never enter the garrison ; but, with his trusty 
arms, remained without and alone. It was reported that 
this man, who, like Saul, king of Israël, "was from his 
shoulders and upward higher than any of the people," more 



46) HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

than once, in consequence of his stature, saved his own life, 
and tbat of his neighbors. After the close of one of the 
wars, the Indians related that they had laid in ambush, 
while Blair and otherö were at work in the field, and had 
opportunities to kill him, but seeing his huge form they 
dared not shoot, thinking him a god. Although, during one 
of the most severe Indian wars, Londonderry was a frontier 
town, and therefore exposed to greater dangers than the 
more interior settlements, yet the town was never assailed. 
The yell of the savage, and the shriek of the murdered set- 
tler, were never heard here. 

Tradition ascribes the signal preservation of this colony 
from the attacks of the Indians, to the influence of the Rev. 
Mr. MacGregor with the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the French 
governor of Canada. It is said that they were classmates 
at college, that a correspondence was maintained between 
them, and that, at the request and representation of his 
former friend, the governor caused raeans to be used for tlie 
protection of the settlement. He induced the Catholic priests 
to charge the Indians not to injure any of these people, as 
they were different from the English ; and to assure them, 
that no bounty should be paid for their scalps, and that, if 
they killed any of them, their sins would not be forgiven. 
That such was the fact, the early inhabitants firmly believed. 
In confirmation of this tradition, on a manuscript sermon- 
book of Mr. MacGregor's, which has been preserved, is found 
the name of this French gentleman, and the vai'ious titles of 
office which he held, and by which he would of course be 
addressed. 

Their signal exemption from savage hostilities, may also, 
in Divine Providence, be ascribed to the fact of their 
securing, through Colonel Wheelwright, a fair and acknowl- 
edged Indian title to their tovvnship, which will be more 
particularly noticed. 

The first company of settlers were soon joined by many of 



CR^L HISTORY. 47 

thefr countrymen who had eraigrated with them to America, 
and had dispersed through the country, awaiting the selec- 
tion of a township ; so that before the close of the first year, 
the number of famihes was very considerably increased. 
As the account of their settlement, and the privileges they 
here enjoyed reached their friends and fellow-süfferers in 
Ireland, many were induced to follow them to this land, and 
join their community. And although many obtained with 
difficulty the means of transporting themselves and families, 
-^ some even binding themselves to a term of labor after 
their arrival, in order to pay for their passage to this coun- 
try, — yet they were soon able, On coming to this town, to 
obtain a cOmfortable support. No price was paid for the 
land, it being a free grant hy the king tö f hese, his loyal 
subjects óf the old country, many of them, as we have seén, 
faithful champions in the famous siege and défénce óf Lon- 
donderiy in Ireland, an event which contributed so directly 
and powerfully to the establishment of his throne. Each 
settler had allotted him óne hundred and twërity acres, a 
home-lot, and an out-lót of sixty acres each. Being a very 
hardy, industrious, frugal people, and favored from the first 
with moral and religious institutions, they sOon became a 
thriving, prosperous, and respectable community. 

Their dwellings were at first of logs, and covered with 
bark. The first framed house in the town was that of the 
Rev. Jïimes MacGregor, their pastor, erected soon after his 
settlement. It is yet standing and in good repair, and is 
now occupied by Mr. Joseph Morrison. The second framed 
house was erected by John McMurphy Esq., and is now 
inhabited by his great-grandson, Mr James McMurphy. 

For a time, they necessarily endured many privations and 
hardships. Their habitations were not only rude, but " their 
food was meagre in kind and not abundant in quantity." 
Being without beasts of burden, much of their provision, 
during the two first years of their settlement, was brought 



48 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

bj the men upon their shoulders from Haverhill, and from 
Andover, Mass. 

In consequence of their vicinity to the falls of Amoskeag, 
they were enabled to provide themselves with fish. They 
were first directed to these falls by an Indian who visited 
their settlement. Taking Mr. MacGregor to an eminence, 
and pointing to a tall pine at a distance, he informed him 
that they were in that direction. Aided by this, he was 
enabled with his compass to mark out a course to the falls, 
to which he, with a few of the settlers, immediately repaired, 
and, with the scoop-net which they had provided, readily 
secured a supply of salmon and shad, with which the Merri- 
mack abounded. This, for a long time, was to the inhab- 
itants of Londonderry a most valuable resource. Being 
within a few miles of this important fishing-place, they could 
with little inconvenience and labor obtain an annual supply 
of fish, which constituted an important article of food, espec- 
ially before their fields became productive. Subsequently, 
and for many years, they lived mainly upon potatoes, bean- 
porridge, samp, and barley-broth. It was long before the use 
of tea and coffee was introduced among them. They were 
happily strangers to these debilitating drinks, which now 
constitute, in most families, an appendage to almost every 
meal. 

Their hard labor and homely fare contributed much, no 
doubt, to that robust health, great strength, and longevity, by 
which they were as a company distinguished. In the labor 
of subduing and cultivating the soil, the women vied with 
the men. « Being," says Dr. Belknap, in his History of New 
Hampshire, " a peculiarly industrious, frugal, hardy, intelli- 
gent, and well-principled people, they proved a valuable 
acquisition to the province into which they had removed, 
contributing much, by their arts and their industry, to its 
welfare." 

They introduced the culture of the potato, which they 



CIVIL HISTORY. 49 

broiight with tliem f'rom Ireland. Until their arrival, this 
valuable vegetable, now regarded as one of the necessaries 
of life, if not whoUy unknown, was not cultivated in New 
England. To them belongs the credit of lts introduction to 
general use. Although higlily prized bj this company of 
settlers, it was for a long time but little regarded by their 
English neighbors : a barrel or two being considered a 
supply for a family. But its value as food for man and 
for beast became at length more generally known, and who 
can now estimate the fuU advantage of its cultivation to this 
country ! The following well-authenticated fact will show 
how little known to the community at large the potato must 
have been. 

A few of the settlers had passed the winter previous to 
their establishment here, in Andover, Mass. On taking 
their departure from one of the families, with whom they 
had resided, they left a few potatoes for seed. The potatoes 
were accordingly planted ; came up and flourished well ; 
blossomed and produced balls, which the family supposed 
were the fruit to be eaten. They cooked the balls in various 
ways, but could not make them palatable, and pronounced 
them unfit for food. The next spring, while ploughing their 
garden, the plough passed through where the potatoes had 
grown, and turned out some of great size, by which means 
they discovered their mistake. 

These settlers also introduced the art of manufacturing 
linen of a superior quality, the raaterials for which they 
brought with them ; and as soon as their lands would admit 
of its cultivation, the flax was considered among the moSt 
valued articles of produce. The spinning-wheel turned by 
the foot, and which came into general use, they first brought 
into the country, and it provt^d of essential service to this 
community. To the hand-card, the foot-wheel, and the loom, 
the common implements of maaufacture in almost every 

5 



ö© HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

family, was the town principally indebted for its early pros- 
perity and its wealth. 

Of such superior quality was the linen, the thread, and the 
other fabrics manufactured in Londonderry, that they com- 
manded not only a more ready sale, but a higher price than 
those produced elsewhere. Hence many were induced to 
knpose upon the public, by selling as Derry manufacturé 
tbat which was produced in other places. 

To prevent this fraud, a town meeting was called in 1748, 
" To appoint proper and fit persons to survey and inspect 
linens, and hoUands, made in this town, for sale, so that the 
credit of our manufactory be kept up, and the purchasers of 
our linens may not be imposed upon, with foreign and out- 
landish linens, in the name of ours ; and any other method 
that may be thought proper and necessary for that end as 
may be agreed upon, It was accordingly voted, " that the 
selectmen purchase seals to seal all the linens that are made 
in said Londonderry, and that John McMurphy Esq., and 
John Wallace, yeoman, be sealers and inspectors of the hol- 
lands and linens that are made, or to be made, in our town j 
whether brown, white, speckled, striped, or checked, that are 
to be exposed for sale ; and the said sealers and inspectors 
shall seal any of the aforesaid linen, with a stamp in each 
end of the piece of cloth, with the words ' Londonderry, in 
New Hampshire,' and give a certificate to the persons that 
are owners of the cloth, of their so doing ; for which stamp, 
inspection, and certificate, they shall receive from the owners 
of said linen sixpence, old tenor, for each piece." It was also 
voted '' To petition the General Asserably of the province, 
for a special act, to guard against any fraud that might be 
perpetrated in the aforesaid affair, or any other thing nee- 
essary for the intended good purposes." 

Weaving, in the earlier periods of the settlement, Vvas per- 
formed by men, and not, as subsequently, by women. It 
was regarded as among the more respectable employments, 



CIVIL HISTORY. 51 

the art being had in high repute, and carried by many of 
this people to a degree of perfection then unequalled in th© 
country. Of this, the foUowing fact affords an illustration. 
John Montgomery emigrated to this town in 1747, and 
estabHshed himself here, as a weaver. He married the 
daughter of Colonel George Knox ; she had lived some 
years in the family of Rev. David MacGregor, to whom she 
was related. He subsequently removed to Andover, Mass, 
During the revolutionary war, Mr. Montgomery received 
from Congress forty pounds and a diamond ring, as a pre- 
mium for linen woven for Washington and the officers of the 
army. This ring he gave to his eldest daughter Jane, the 
wife of John Clark, Esq., of Salem, N. Y., and it is now in 
the hands of a granddaughter, as a memorial of the interest- 
ing fact. The sale throughout the New England, and some 
of the Middle States, of the thread and linen here manufac- 
tured, became to those who engaged in it a lucrative business^ 
Many were thus constantly employed. Two of the larges^ 
estates accumulated in the town, and to which the inhabi- 
tants are much indebted for the support of their religious 
and literary institutions, were commenced and advaneed in 
thi^ way. The Pinkertons, John and James — names to be 
had in grateful remembrance by the people of Derry and 
Londonderry — began business as venders of these articles 
of home manufacture. 

The females among the early settlers were distinguished 
for habitg of industry. Rarely would one enter a dweiling 
without hearing the hum of the wheel, or the stroke of the 
loom. All articles of clothing in those days were of domes- 
t^c manufacture. The wool and the flax were carded, spun, 
woven, colored, and made into garments, at home. To use 
^reign goods was considered great extravagance. For se?- 
eral years their wooUen cloths were not even fulled. 

The manufacturing enterprise in this country has produced 
in this respect an entire revolution in our domestic habits. 



52 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

The wheel and the loom are no longcr scen in our dwellings, 
and the young women would be unprepared to use them, if 
possessed. Yet, with all this improvement in manufactures, 
it is still a question, whether it will prove conducive to the 
truc intcrests of the communitj. By the astonishing improve- 
ments in the arts of manufacture within the present centurj, 
there is an immense saving of time and toil in the production 
of the necessary articles of clothing ; but are there not accom- 
panying evils ? 

It has been justly remarked by one, " that many of our 
young women, the future mothers who are to form the char- 
acter of the next generation, are not educated, as in former 
days at home, where the mind had leisure to mature, and 
the affections to expand, and where they were required to 
engage in that kind of exercise most invigorating to the sys- 
tem, — but at an early period leave home, work togelher in 
large companies, breath an impure air, and board in crowded 
houses. And though highly commendable provision lias 
been made by the proprietors of our large manufacturing 
establishments for the improvement of those employed in 
them, and though many are thus brought under tlie most 
salutary influences, yet, is there not danger that too many of 
them will become disqualified for the private and domestic 
duties of life, — that their intellectual and moral interests will 
be neglccted ? Their bodies may be decked with more costly 
attire, yet their minds may be robbed of their best affections 
and their highest hopes. Never shall we witness a class of 
females distinguished by phy^cal strength and energy, domes- 
tic virtuos, mental vigor or moral and religious ])rinciples, 
such as characterized the female portion of this community, 
not only at its earliest settlement, but during successive 
generations. They most happily exemplified the portrait of 
the housewife drawn by the inspired pen. 

In socuring a valid title to their township, the first settlers 
of Londonderry experienced no little embarrassment, They 



CIVIL HISTORY. 5$ 

at first supposed that their settlement feil within the province 
of Massachusetts bay, and therefore appUed to the genera! 
eourt of that province for the confirraation of their fermer 
grant : but the court decided that they were not under their 
jurisdiction. 

They therefore, in September 1719, applied to the general 
court of New Hampshire for an act of incorporation, and 
the enjoyment of town privileges. The folio wing is a copy 
from the original petition now among the coUections of the 
New Hampshire Historical Society. 

" The humble petition of the people late from Ireland, 
ïiow settled at Nutfield, to His Excellency the Governour and 
General Court assembled at Portsmouth, Sept. 23, 1719, — 
Hunibly sheweth : — 

" That your petitioners having made application to the 
General Court met at Boston in October last, and having 
obtained a grant for a township in any part of their unap- 
propriated lands, took incouragement thereupon to settle at 
J^utfield about the Eleventh of April last, which is situated 
by estimation about fourteen miles from Haverel meeting- 
house to the north-west, and fifteen miles from Dracut meet- 
ing-house on the River Merrimack north and by east. 

" That your petitioners since their settlement have found 
that the said Nutfield is claimed by three or four different 
parties by virtue of Indian deeds, yet none of them offered 
a,ny disturbance to your petitioners except one party from 
Newbury and Salem. Their deed, from one John, Indian, 
bears date March 13, Anno Dom. 1701, and imports that 
they had made a purchase of the said land for five pounds. 
By virtue of this deed they claim ten miles square westward 
from Haverel line; and one Caleb Moody of Newbury, in their 
name, discharged our people from clearing or any way im- 
proving the said land, unless we agreed that twenty or five 
and twenty families at most should dweil there, and that all 
the rest of the land should be reserved for them. 

5* 



54 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

" That your petitioners, by reading the grant of the crown 
of Great Britain to the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which 
determineth their northern line three miles from the River 
Merrimack from any and every part of the River, and by 
advice from such as were more capable to judge of this affair, 
are satisfied that the said Nutfield is witliin his majesties 
province of New Hampshire, which we are further confirmed 
in, because the General Court, met at Boston in May last, 
upon our renewed application, did not think fit any way to 
intermeddle witli the said land. 

" That your petitioners, therefore, embrace this opportu- 
nity of addressing this Honourable Court, praying that their 
township may consist of ten miles square, or in a figure equiv- 
alent to it, they being already in number about seventy fam- 
ilies and inhabitants, and more of their friends arrived from 
Ireland, to settle with them, and many of the people of 
New England settling with them ; and that, they being so 
numerous, may be erected into a township with its usual 
privileges, and have a power of making town officers and 
laws. That, being a frontier place, they may the better sub- 
sist by government amongst them, and may be more strong 
and full of inhabitants. That your petitioners being descend- 
ed from, and professing the faith and principles of the estab- 
lished church of North Britain, and loyal subjects of the 
British crown in the family of his majesty king George, and 
incouraged by the happy administration of his majesties chief 
governour in these provinces, and the favourable inclination 
of the good people of New England to their brethren, adven- 
turing to come over and plant in this vast wilderness, hum- 
bly expect a favourable answer from this Honourable Court, 
and your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray, etc. 
Subscribed at Nutfield, in the name of our people, Sept. 21, 

1719, by 

" James Gregg, 

" RoBERT Wear," 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



55 



The petition is indorsed as follows : — 

" James Gregg and Rob't Wear. In behalf of a company 
of Irish at Nutfield, to be a township. Sept. 24, 1719, read, 
— minuted and suspended, — read again April 29, 1720, 
and minuted." 

This petition, drawn up with so mucb clearness and sim- 
plicity, presents some interesting facts as to the infant settle- 
ment, particularly the rapid increase of the population. It 
commeneed in April, with sixteen families. In September 
of the same year, there were seventj famihes. 

The lieutenant-governor of the province, dechned making 
an actual grant, as the tract of territory including this and 
other townships was, at that time, in dispute between the 
crown and the heirs of one Allen ; but by advice of council he 
gave a protection, and extended to them the benefits of gov- 
ernment, appointing James McKeen, a man of distinguished 
probity, ability, and intelligence, justice of peace, and Robert 
Weir, sheriff. This commission of Justice McKeen, as he 
was afterwards more usually styled, dated at Portsmouth, 
April 29, 1720, and signed by Governor Shute, is now in 
possession of Rev. Silas McKeen, as are also, it is believed, 
most of the papers left by his great-grandfather. 

Although James McKeen was the first acting justice in 
the town, it appears from certain facts that John McMurphy, 
Esq., who joined the settlement the year foUowing, held a 
commission of a prior date, having received it before leaving 
Ireland. Notwithstanding they now enjoyed the protection 
of government, and were thus encouraged to proceed in their 
settlement, still, the settlers of Londonderry were «nwiUing 
to possess themselves of lands, once the undisputed property 
of the aborigines, without a fair purchase of their claims. 

Being informed that Col. John Wheelwright, of Wells, 
Me., had the best Indian title to this tract of country, derived 
from his ancestor, the Rev. John Wheelright, and supposing 



iJ6 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

this to be valid in a moral point of view, they deputed a com- 
mittee, consisting of Rev. Mr. MeGregor and Samuel Graves, 
to wait upon Col. Wheelright, and secure, if possible, his title 
to the land. The committee were successful, and obtained 
of him a deed of land, ten miles square, in virtue of a grant, 
dated May 17, 1629, and approved by the then existing 
aiuthorities, made to his grandfather, a minister of the gospel, 
gjid to others named in said grant, by sundry Indiaii chiefs, 
with the consent of their tribes.* 

It appears that the Rev. John Wheelright, and others of 
Massachusetts, pix^posing to form a settlement in the neigh- 
borhood of Piscataqua river, assembled a council of Indians 
at Exeter, and, by fair purchase, obtained a deed froni the 
four principal sagamores, of all the tei'ritory lying betweeu 
the river Piscataqua and the Merrimack, bounded by the 
Atlantic ocean on the east, on the south by the Merrimack 
tQ Pawtucket Falls, thence by a line north-west, twenty 
milee to Amherst Plain, thence by a line running north-east 
tQ Piscataqua river, thence down the river to the ocean. 

Jt must be truly satisfactory to the inhabitants of London- 
derry, that the soil on which their fathers erected their habi- 
^tions, and which they now cultivate, was not wrested from 
the original and rightful owners by force, as in too manj^ 
instances was the case, in the settlement of our country. 

The foUowing testimony to the authenticity of this ancient 
deed of a tract of land, from Wehahnonaway and other la- 
dian chiefs, to John Wheelright and others, is from a paper 
filed in the records of the ancient Norfolk county court. 

" I, John Wheelright, pastor of the church of Salisbury, 
doe test}f)% that when I, with others, first came to sit down at 
Exeter, we purchased of the Indians, to whom so far as we 
could learn the right did belong, a certain tract of land about 
thirty miles square, to run from Merrimack river eaatward, 



*See Appendix. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



57 



and so up the country ; of wliich land we had a grant in 

writing signed by them. 

"John Wheelwright." 
"April 15, 1668. 

" Mr. Edward Colcord testifieth to all the above written, 
and further saith, that one northly bound mentioned in our 
agreement with Wehahnonaway, the chief sagamore, was 
the westerly part of Oyster river, which is about four miles 
northly beyond Lampereele river. 

" Sworn bef ore the court, ye 14th, 2d mo. 1668. 

" Thomas Bradburt, Ree." 

In consideration of the deed obtained from Col. Wheel- 
right, he, and also Governor Wentworth, were to receive 
certain lots of land in the township of Londonderry. These 
lots included some of the best farms now in town. 

The government of New Hampshire, apprized of the 
strength and benefit whio.h the then weak province were 
likely to derive frora this company of emigrants, were par- 
ticiilarly attentive to them, and did much to patronize and 
encourage them. Especially did the lieutenant-governor 
labor to encourage and assist the infant colony, and thereby 
merited and received an expression of their gratitude and 
esteem, as appears from the following record on the town 
book. 

" The people of Nutfield do acknowledge with gratitude 
the obligations they are under to the Hon. John Wentworth, 
Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire. They re- 
member with pleasure, that His Honor, on all occasions 
shewed a great deal of civility and real kindness to them, 
being strangers in the country ; and cherished the small 
beginnings of their settlement, and defended them from the 
encroachment and violence of such as, upon unjust grounds, 
would have disturbed their settlement; and always gave 
them a favorable ear, and easy access to government ; and 



5^ HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

procured justice for them, and established order, and pro- 
moted peace and good government amongst them ; giving 
them always the most wholesome and seasonable advice, 
both with respect to the purity and liberty of the gospel, and 
the management of their secular concerns ; and put arms and 
ammunition into their hands to defend them from the fears 
and dangers of the Indians ; and contributed Hberally, by his 
influence and example, to the building of a house for the 
worship of God ; so that, under God, we own him for the 
patron and guardian of our settleraent, and erect this monu- 
ment of gratitude to the name and family of Wentworth, to 
be had in the greatest veneration by the present generation 
an<i the latest posterity." 

ïhis document is alike honorable to their patron and ben- 
efactor, and to those who adopted it. It not only shows their 
exposed and harassed situation during the early period of 
their settlement, but evinces that genereus, high-minded feel- 
ing, and that lively sensibility to every expression of kind- 
ness conferred upon them, which so strongly marked their 
character. A favor bestowed upon them, was not soon or 
easily forgotten. 

In speaking, in this address, of the encroachment and vio- 
lence of such as upon unjust grounds vvould have disturbed 
their settlement, and from which they were kindly defended 
by the governor, there is reference more particularly to 
attempts, by a party on the borders of Massachusetts, to dis- 
possess them, by artifice or by force, of their tovvnship. It 
appears that certain persons in Haverhill, and its vicinity, 
laid claim to these lands, by virtue of a deed of but about 
twenty years date, from an Indian sagamore named John, 
whereas the Indian title which the proprietors of London- 
derry elaimed, was obtained more than sixty years before, and 
gigned by all the principal chiefs who had any right whatever 
to the territory in question. Weak and unjust as was the 
elaim of these individuals, they endeavored to press it, hoping 



CIVIL HISTORY. 59 

that, as these settlers were foreigners, if they could not by 
persuasion, they would by menaces, be induced to abandon 
their settlement. Hence they came from time to time in 
armed bodies, threatening violence if the settlers upon these 
lands did not remove. But they knew not the men whom 
they tlius assailed, men of tried courage and noble daring. 
Satisfied of the justness of their title, and determined to 
tnaintain it at the peril of life, if called to the encounter, the 
inhabitants of Londonderry went forward with their settle»- 
Inent, heedless of the menaces they received. It is related, 
that on one occasion a large party from Haverhill, led by a 
man named Herriman, came fuUy armed for an encounter^ 
wnl«ss these settlei^ would yield to their dematids, either 
paying them for the township or at once quitting it. 

It was on Friday, and the men with their famihes W"€rre 
assembling under a spreading oak, their house of worship 
not being as yet erected, to observe, according to the good 
old Presbyterian custom, the service preparatory to the coöi- 
inunion, which was to be administered on the following Sab- 
bath. The assailants, on making known their purpose, Welre 
requested to desist from all acts of violence, until their reli- 
gious services were over, which they consented to do. Hav- 
ing listened attentively to the discourse addressed to his floek 
by the venerated pastor, and struck with the firm and ^em- 
daunted appearance of the men, and with the spirit and 
solemnity of their devotions, Herriman said to his foUowers : 
" Let us return ; it is in vain to attempt to disturb this people^ 
for surely the Lord is with them." 

In connection with these more formal assaults, they were 
frequently harassed by intruders who attempted to mow 
their meadows, on which they mainly depended for the sup- 
port of their cattle during the earlier years of the settlement. 

8uch intruders were not unfrequently taken by them, and 
detained as prisoners, until satisfaction was rendered by them, 
or their friends. We find in the town accounts during these 



60 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

years, frequent charges by individuals " for giiarding pris- 
oners." Sometimes an inhabitant of the town, when employed 
in these meadows, would be seized and carried away by 
individuals from abroad, who laid in wait for the purpose. 
Tlms a Mr. Christie, while mowing in a meadow, was seized 
and carried to Haverhill, without being allowed to apprize 
his farnily of his situation. The next day some of his apparel 
was found in the meadow where he had been at work, and 
he was at length disco vered and rescued. 

It also appears that civil processes were commenced and 
carried on before the courts in Massachusetts, as they held 
their sessions, at Newburyport and Ipswich, and that certain 
individuals were actually committed to prison under the arrests 
which were made by the claimants in that province. We find 
frequent charges made for attendance at court at Ipswich, also 
a vote of the town to pay the expenses of the individuals 
imprisoned, and to perform for them the necessary work 
required on their farms during their imprisonment. 

In June, 1722, three years after the commencement of 
their settlement, the tract of land which they had selected, 
and which heretofore had been called Nutfield, was incorpo- 
rated as a township by the name of Londonderry, in com- 
memoration of the city in and near to which most of them 
had resided in their native land. 

The charter conveyed to the proprietors, whose names 
were annexed, amounting at that early day to more tlian an 
hundi-ed, in the name of George the Third, a tract of land ten 
miles square and duly bounded, and that the same be a town 
ineorporate, by the name of Londonderry ; to have and to 
hold the said land, to the grantees, their heirs and assigns, 
upon the following conditions, viz : — 

" That the proprietors of every share, build a dwelling- 
house within three years, and settle a family therein ; and 
that he break up three acres of land, and plant 'and sow the 
same within four years, and pay his or their proportion of the 



CIVIL HISTORY. 61 

town charges, when and so often as occasion sliall require 
the same ; that a meeting-house shall be built in four years ; 
that upon the default of any particular proprietor in comply- 
ing with the condition of this charter on his part, such 
delinquent proprietor shall forfeit his share to the other 
proprietors, to be disposed of by vote of the major part of 
the proprietors ; the said men and inhabitants rendering 
and paying for the same to us and to our successors, or to 
such officer or officers as shall be appointed to receive the 
same, the annual quit-rent, or acknowledgment, of one peck 
of potatoes, on the first day of October, yearly, forever ; 
reserving, also, to our heirs and successors, all mast-trees 
growing on said tract of Londonderry." After making 
provision for an annual town-meeting, the charter further 
enacts, " that on every Wednesday in the week forever, they 
may hold, keep, and enjoy, a market for the buying and 
selling of goods, wares, and merchandise, and various kinds 
of creatures, endowed with the usual privileges, profits, and 
immunities as other market towns fuUy hold, possess, and 
enjoy, and two Fairs annually, forever ; the first to be held 
and kept within the said town on the eighth day of November 
next, and so annually, forever ; the other on the eighth day of 
May, in like manner. Provided, if it should so happen, that 
at/kny time either of these days fall on the Lord's day, then 
the said Fair shall be held and kept the day following it. 
The said Fair shall have, hold, and enjoy the liberties, priv- 
ileges, and immunities as other Fairs in other towns, fuUy 
possess, hold, and enjoy."* 

The conditions specified in this charter, serve to throw 
lieht on the state of our ei vil communities at that time, and 
the origin of some practices which prevailed until a recent 
date in this town. The annual payment of the peck of pota- 
toes, and the reservation of the noblest trees in our forests, 

* See Appendix. 
6 



62 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

was an acknowledgment of the dependence of these prov- 
inces upon the mother couiitiy : all grants of lands and 
privileges were from the crown, and conferred by govern- 
ments acting under its appointment and authority. 

In the reign of William, a surveyor of the woods was 
appointed, and acts were passed by order of the king, in the 
several provinces, for the j)reservation of the white pines. 
In 1708, a law, made in New Ilampshire, prohibited the 
cutting of such as were twenty-four inches in diameter at 
twelve inches from the ground, without leave of the surveyor, 
who was instructed to " mark with the broad arrow, those 
which be fit for the use of the navy, and to keep a register 
of them." From these, and similar restrictions upon their 
freedom and independence, the fathers of the Revolution 
sought to free themselves, and their posterity ; and by their 
valor and sufferings, they obtained, and conferred on us, the 
rich inheritance which we now enjoy. 

We have here, also, the origin of those annual Fairs, 
for which the town became distinguished, and which were 
continued until within a few years. The original design of 
the Fair was good, and for some years it was of public 
use and convenience, affording an opportunity to the inhab- 
itants of this, and the adjoining towns, to meet and exchange 
commodities. It was conducted with order and propriety. 
The assemblage was usually large ; merchants from Haverhill, 
Salem, and even Boston, were present with goods ; and 
every variety of home manufacture was here collected. 
The Common was usually surrounded with tents containing 
merchandise, and with pens of cattle, sheep, and swine, for 
sale or exchange. 

The state of society at length changing, the country be- 
coming generally settled, stores being multiplied, and the 
means of communication with our large towns greatly im- 
proved, the Fair became of little or no use, was soon per- 
verted from its original design, and for many years proved a 



CIVIL HISTORY. 63 

moral nuisance, attracting chiefly the more corrupt portion 
of the community, and exhibiting for successive days, each 
year, scènes of vice and folly in sonie of their worst forms. 

Attempts were consequently made by the town, from time 
to time, to regulate the Fair, and thus correct the e vil, but 
with little success. 

At their annual meeting in 1798, the folio wing resolution 
and vote were passed by the town : — 

" From the misconduct and disorderly behaviour of most 
of the people which frequent the Fair, as now holden, the 
good intention and original design are altogether defeated ; 
whereupon enacted, that it shall be confined to two days, one 
day each Spring and Fall, the 19th of May and 19th of 
October, when they do not occur on the Sabbath. 

" Voted, also, that no booth shall be used after 9 o'clock in 
the evening of said days, for selling merchandise or liquor, 
or furnishing any kind of entertainment, without forfeiting 
and paying a fine of one pound." 

lts final suppression was the result of the temperance 
reformation, as it here prevailed. In 1839, the only public 
house in the village, where the Fair had from the first been 
held, became a strictly temperance tavern ; the bar was 
removed, and no intoxicating drmks were to be obtained in 
the place. A number of persons on assembling at the usual 
time, and finding this to be the case, at once withdrew, and 
no traces of the Fair remain in Derry, Avhere for more than 
a century it had been observed.* 

The settlement being incorporated, and exercising town 
government, many judicious regulations were introduced and 
adopted, for its improvement and good order. 

The settlers were now in a situation to enjoy civil 
and religious privileges, which they had never before pos- 

* At the session of the Legislature, in June of the present year ( 1 850), 
that part of the charter of the town authorizing the holding of Fairsj 
was repcaled. 



64 HISTORY OF LONDONDEKRY. 

sessed ; and, although inexperienced in the management of 
sucli corporations, yet having at the head of their affairs 
men of sound judgment and of rcligious integrity, the gov- 
ernment was cfRcient and liberal. 

These corporate townships, as may here be observed, are 
a pecuhar feature in our government, and are indeed essen- 
tial to the existence and preservation of f ree institutions. 
They sprang, as has been supposed, from the form of church 
discipline, originally introduced into New Enghmd, and in 
this, as well as other instances, w^e may see liow much we 
are indebted to the Puritans, not only for the substance, 
but even the form of our political and civil freedom. 

The origin of town organizations was not derived from 
the authority of the general court, but from the necessity of 
the case, and the circumstances in which the people were 
placed. Their foundation was in the vohnitary, though tacit 
compact of the proprietors and settlers of the different towns. 
They were associations, in chai*acter, like that entered into 
by the Plymouth Pilgrims before they disembarked. Settle- 
ments being made in different phices, some plan must be 
adopted for the orderly management of their affiiirs. Taxes 
must be levied, lots of land must be granted, highways laid 
out, and meetings of the freemen must be had, to make 
orders, to appoint subordinate ofRcers, and provide for their 
security and general interests. 

It was therefore necessary that some form of town govern- 
ment should be established. The inhabitants at first chose 
several of their principal proprietors to manage the affairs 
of the town, who were tlien styled townsmen. Some years 
afterwards the number being reduced, and it becoming cus- 
tomary to select three or five only fbr this purpose, they 
were called selectmen. To these men were intrusted the 
principal concerns of the town. Their proceedings, in the 
management of its affairs, were annually brought before a 
meeting of the town for confirmation. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 65 

As the settlements advanced, and new regulations became 
necessary, statutes were made by the several provincial 
governments, with permission of the crown, grantiiig or 
recogiiizing the rights and privileges of towns, and these 
corporations became essential parts of the machinery of the 
colonial, as they have since been of the State governments. 
Other officers were added from time to time, as assessors, 
overseers, surveyors, etc., who were annually elected at the 
town-meeting usually held in March. 

The people have always been ardently attached to these 
little republics. They have guarded and watched their 
rights with the utmost jealousy. The history of these little 
municipalities, scattered over and covering the surface of 
New England, is closely interwoven with that of our country. 
The Revolution, it is believed, would never have been achieved 
without them, nor would our liberties be long secure. These 
townships being composed entirely of the citizens, without 
any distinction as to rank, property, or ontward appendage 
whatever, contain in themselves all the clements of a pure 
democracy. " They are the schools," as one remarks, " in 
which young men are educated for higher offices, and in 
which all may be taught their duty as citizens. But the 
great purpose which they answer, is, that they serve as a 
barrier against the encroachments of the State and federal 
governments." One great danger in every government, is 
the centralization of power, a power controUing not only 
what relates to the whole State or Union, as the revenue and 
post-office and military department, but those of a more 
local character, as is the case in all despotic and many of the 
monarchical governments. 

" To prevent this dangerous result, we have, in the first 
place, our State governments, and then, what is of far greater 
importance, our town governments, which hold in their hands 
more than nine-tenths of the real power, which, so far as 
they are concerned, belongs to government." 

6* 



66 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

A large proportion of the real efFective legislation, under 
our government, is j^erformed by the towns. They raise the 
taxes, support the schools, roads, and bridges, provide for 
the poor, and direct in whatever pertains to their local inter- 
ests, as well as to the general welfare. 

Thus admirably adapted to the security and prosperity of 
a community, is the simple machinery of town government. 
Under this, Londonderry, like other New England towns, 
has grown up to its present condition, not only sending forth 
colonies for the commencement of other settlements in dif- 
ferent parts of the land, but becoming itself two large and 
prosperous towns. 

The description, drawn by Dr. Belknap, the historian, of a 
desirable town community, has in many, if not all the points, 
been realized in the towns which have arisen from the early 
settlement of Londonderry. 

" A town consisting of a due mixture of hills, valleys, and 
streams of water ; the land well fenced and cultivated ; the 
roads and bridges in good repair ; decent inns for the 
refreshment of travellers, and for public entertainment. The 
inhabitants mostly husbandmen ; their wives and daughters 
domestic manufacturers ; a suitable proportion of handicraft 
workmen, and two or three traders ; a physician and a 
lawyer; a clergyman of good understanding, candid dispo- 
sition, and exemplary morals, — not a metaphysical, nor a 
polemic, but a serieus, practical preacher. A schoolmaster, 
who should understand his business, and teach his pupils to 
govern themselves. A social library, annually increasing, 
and under good regulations ; a decent musical society ; no 
intriguing politician, horsejockey, gambler, or sot. Such a 
situation may be considered as the most favorable to local 
happiness of any which this world can aiford." 

May these towns, in their future character and situation, 
realize still more fully the picture here presented, and, blend- 
ing the glory of the children with that of the fathers, enlighten 
the dark vista of future years, till time shall be no more. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 67 



CHAPTER III. 

TrAITS IX THE CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS — 3IARRIAGE 
CEREMONIES, WAKES, AND FUNERALS — DIVERSIONS — ERECTION 
OF A MEETING-HOUSE — SCHOOLS — EXTRACTS FROM THE OLD 
TOWN RECORDS — DWELLING-HOUSES — INCORPORATION OF THE 
WEST PARISH — NOTICES OF JOHN AND JA3IES PINKERTON — 
INCORPORATION OF WINDHAM AND DERRYFIELD — OLD FRENCH 
WAR — EMIGRATIONS FROII THE TOWN — PATRIOTIC ZEAL OF 
THE INHABITANTS DüRING THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION — 
REBELLION OF 1786 — THE TWO VILLAGES — PINKERTON ACAD- 
EMT — ADAMS FEMALE ACADEMY — DIVISION OF THE TOWN — 
EMIGRATIONS OF ENGLISH FAMILIES INTO THE TOWN. 

The early settlers of New Hampsliire may be divided 
into foiir classes ; these on the Piscataqua, who came into 
the State for the purpose of fishing and trading ; the Scotch 
settlers at Londonderry ; emigrants from Massachusetts, 
who established themselves on the Merrimack and its tribu- 
taries ; and those who came from Connecticut, and j)lanted 
themselves on the Connecticut river. 

Each of these divisions of the population, is said to retain 
and exhibit at the present time certain peculiarities, intellec- 
tual, moral, social, and political, which were characteristic of 
the original settlers. This is strikingly the case in regard 
to the Scotch-Irish settlers. The national traits which 
characterized this company of emigrants, were deeply and 
strongly marked. They, and their immediate successors, 
have passed away, but they have left their impress upon the 
generations which have succeeded them. Owing to the 
difference in their language, habits, and modes of life, from 
those of their English neighbors, prejudices were early 
imbibed, and unreasonably indulged, against these settlers, 
and many things in their manners and practices were grossly 



68 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

misrepresented, and falscly reported and believed. Some 
of the inliabitants of the adjoining towns, not iinderstanding 
their true origin and character, but supposing that, as they 
came from Ireland, they were of the native Cathohc Irish, 
were greatly alarmed, and were anxious to have thern 
removed from their immediate vieinity, if not expelled from 
the country. 

AUhough they came to this land from Ireland, where 
their ancestors had a century before planted themselves, yet 
they retained unmixed the national Scotch character. Noth- 
ing sooner offended them, than to be called Irish, Their 
antipathy to this appellation had its origin in the hostility 
existing in Ireland between the Celtic race, the native Irish, 
and the English and Scotch colonists, adverted to in a 
former chapter. 

]VIi\ Belknap quotes from a letter of Rev. James Mac- 
Gregor to Governor Shute, in which he says, "We are 
surprised to hear ourselves termed Irish people, when we so 
frequently ventured our all, for the British crown and 
liberties, against the Irish Papists, and gave all tests of our 
loyalty which the government of Ireland required, and are 
always ready to do the same when required." 

Between the native Irish and the Scotch, who removed 
to Ireland, there was almost as great a difFerence in re- 
ligion, morals, intelligence, and language, as exists between 
them and the English. Although the Scotch as a nation 
are plain, frugal, frank, and somewhat rough, yet they pos- 
sess a greater vivacity and quickness of parts, propensities 
more social, and stronger sensibilities of all kinds than their 
southern neighbors. They have ever been distinguished for 
their hospitality, their valor, firmness, and fidelity. No people 
display more faitliful and affectionate attachment to those who 
have conciliated their good-will ; and few nations have given 
more undeniable proofs of genius in scientific and literary pur- 
suits, or have, throughout past ages, sustained a higher degree 



CIVIL HISTORY. 69 

of moral and political respectability. This may be triily said 
of those who constituted the settlement of Londonderiy, and 
their numerous descendants ; and here no apology will be 
necessary for introducing, with the permission of the author, 
the concise but just view of the prominent traits in their 
character, as given by a descendant* of these emigrants, on 
a public occasion. Speaking of an interesting branch of this 
colony, he says : " But while the intellect of our people is 
shown in the number and character of educated men that 
have gone from among them, it is shown still more in their 
general character. I might select many among those whom 
I have personally known, who, if not polished so as to bring 
out all the shades and ricli veins of intellect, have yet been 
sufRciently cultivated to show minds capable of grasping 
strong thoughts, and acting upon the most important inter- 
ests of public and private life." 

" The next remarkable feature has been courage. It was 
shown by our fathers in Ireland, and has not deserted their 
sons. As a people, they have never shrunk from peril. At 
the first sound of danger, their custom has been to fly to the 
scène of action. So was it in the Indian and French wars. 
So was it after the news of the battle of Lexington. Many 
instances might be adduced, which would serve to illustrate 
the courage which has been always a prominent feature in 
their character, distinguishing alike their habits of thought, 
of social intercourse, of public and private enterprise. In 
whatever they have undertaken, they have gone forward 
with the same fearless spirit. 

" If at any time a man has had hard thoughts of his 
neighbor, he did not whisper it about in private scandal, 
but the ofFender was the first to hear it ; there was no secret, 
underhand dealing, but their voices were always loud, their 
gait erect, their conduct open. 

*' Rcv. J- H. Morison, of Milton, Mass. 



70 niSTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

" Whilc ready to maintain Üiièr own and tlieir neighbor's 
rights, they have also, it must be acknowledged, never been 
backward in proclaiming their own merits ; yet they have 
not been a conceited, boasting race, but men who knew theu' 
strength, who judged correctly of their merits, and would not 
suffer others to destroy or impair tlieir just appreciation. 

" Closely allied to this, was another prominent trait in 
their character. They were always a high-minded, generous 
people. Though poor, they were never mean in spirit. Some- 
times, indeed, a foolish pride has been among them. It is 
related of the wife of the oldest John Morison, that when 
her husband was building his first habitation in Londonderry, 
she came to him, and in a manner unusually affectionate, 
said, ' Aweel, aweel, dear Joan, an it maun be a log-house, do 
make it a log heegher nor the lave,' — (than the rest.)" 

" But if they have had a little sprinkling of this spirit, 
they have also been marked by a true loftiness and gen- 
erosity of soul, which, in all their trials, has not forsaken 
them. It mingled with their courage in war, and guided 
their intelligence in politics." " Li their influence, great or 
small, in high or in low stations, upon the councils of the 
state or nation, this people, as a body, have always been on 
the side of a liberal, generous policy, whatever might be its 
effect upon their private interests. 

"Another prominent trait of character, was their ready wit. 
No subject was kept sacred from it ; the thoughtless and the 
grave, the old and the young, alike enjoyed it. Our fathers 
were serious, thoughtful men, but they lost no occasion 
which might promise sport. AVeddings, huskings, log-rollings, 
and raisings, what a host of queer stories is connected with 
them! Our ancestors dearly loved fun; there was a grotesque 
humor, and yet a seriousness, pathos, and strangeness about 
them, which in its way has perhaps never been excelled. 
It was the sternness of the Scotch Covenanter softened by a 
century's residence abroad, amid persecution and trial, wed- 



CIVIL HISTORY. 71 

ded there to the comic humor and pathos of the Irish, and 
then grown wild in the woods, among these our New England 
moiintains. I see in them, and their genuine descendants, 
the product of the heaths and highlands of Scotland, with 
their border wars ; of the rich low fields of Ireland, with their 
mirth and chibs, modified afresh bj the hardships of a new 
settlement, and the growing infiuence of a free country." 

These traits of character, manifest as they wers in that 
portion of the early settlers and their descendants to whom 
these remarks were directly addressed, belonged, with little 
modification, to the whole company of emigrants, and to the 
several colonies which went out from them. But the trait 
most distinguishing their character, and most valuable in its 
influence, was their steadfast adherence to enlightened reli- 
gious principle, and to all the forms and duties of devotion. 
" They were a devout, religious people. With their Pres- 
byterian predilections, confirmed by the inhuman massacres, 
extortions, and wars through which they had passed, their 
first object in settling here was that they might be free in 
their religious faith." And no sooner were they formed 
into a community, than, as we have seen, they organized a 
church, settled a pastor, and commenced and maintained 
under many disadvantages the public services of religion. 
In all their rude dwellings, the morning and evening sacrifice 
of prayer and praise was regularly offered, and the Scriptures 
devoutly read. The omission of such daily acts of devotion, in 
a single family, w^ould, for some years after their settlement, 
have excited alarm, and called for examination. The fol- 
lowing fact may serve as an illustration of the general feeling 
which thus pervaded the community. 

The venerable pastor, being one evening informed that an 
individual was becoming neglectful of family worship, imme- 
diately repaired to his dweiling ; the family had retired ; he 
called up the man, and inquired if the report was true, and 
whether he had omitted family devotion that evening. On 



72 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

his aclmitting the fact, his faithful pastor, having diily admon- 
ished liim of his faiilt, refused to leave his house until he 
had kneeled with his partner, and ofFered up prayer to God. 

Not only the shorter, but the larger catechism of the 
Presbyterian church, was regularly committed and recited 
by all, bbtli parents and children. For nearly a century, 
the practice of annual family catechizing was strictly ob- 
served in the town. Families to the number of eight or ten, 
assembled according to aj)pointment, at some dwelling in 
their respective neighborhoods ; here the pastor met them, 
and, commencing with the younger, and proceeding to the 
elder classes, he carefully examined each individual, as to 
his knowledge of this summary of Christian faith and duty. 

Not only was the answer to the question proposed expect- 
ed, but some, if not all, of the Scripture proofs annexed, were 
required. By means of this catechetical instruction, with 
their habitual attendance upon divine ordinances, and their 
devout readings of the Scriptures, and some of the best 
Standard authors in divinity of the seventeenth century, they 
became firmly established in the great and essential truths 
of revelation, and were well fortified^ against the encroach- 
ments of error. As an illustration of this, and of the happy 
effect of such religious training, is the fact, that, for an 
hundred years after its settlement, no religious meeting was 
held, or sermon preached, in this town, except by a Presby- 
terian or Congregational minister. The practice of thus 
assembling by families was laid aside, in consequence, 
mainly, of the emigration to the town of those who had not 
been thus trained, and were, consequently, unprejiared for 
such an exercise, and the recitations of the catechism were at 
length confined exclusively to children and youth, either 
at their dwellings, wlien visited by the pastor, or at the 
schoolroom, — they being long regarded by this people, and 
by the inhabitants of Ncav England in general, indispensable 
at school, as a weekly exercise at least. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 73 

But while these excellences of character are acknowledged, 
and tlieir influence is to this day manifest in their descendants, 
they had their weaknesses and their errors. Many of their 
customs were decidedly objectionable, as their marriage cere- 
monies, their wakes or watehings with the dead, and their 
funeral solemnities. On these occasions, ardent spirit was 
early introduced and freely used, and was not unfrequently 
productive of scènes most painful. " But these practices," 
to adopt the language of one, to whom reference has already 
been made, " were doubtless of Irish origin, and not the 
offspring of Scotland, whose inhabitants are uniformly distin- 
guished for their sober, regular habits. But what clung to 
them in Ireland, the disposition to humor, rioting, and laugh- 
ter, was only on the surface, playing there and varying the 
outlines of the countenance, while the strong granite features 
of Scotland were fixed deep in the soul. The unbending 
purpose, the lofty principle, the almost haughty adherence to 
what they believed true, and high, and sacred, resting on a 
religious basis, was the real substance of their character. 
They had foibles, they had weaknesses and errors ; but well 
may it be for us, if the refinements of a more advanced soci- 
ety, and a more liberal culture, should serve to give grace, 
beauty, and light to the same strong powers of thought ; the 
same courage, though in a different sphere ; the same gen- 
erous elevation of soul ; the same vivacity ; and above all, 
the same deep, thoughtful, religious principle that belonged 
to them." 

It was such domestic scènes and habits, and such devotional 
exercises as the poet of Scotland has so beautifuUy depicted 
in his " Cotter's Saturday Night," which, as transferred by 
this company of emigrants to this land, gave such distinction to 
their settlement, and rendered it so prosperous and benefi- 
eial in its influence upon the community. 

As many of their customs and practices have passed away, 
and even the recoUection of them will soou be gone, it may 

7 



74 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

be well, in tliis historical sketch, to preserve such memorials 
as now remain. 

The following description of the marriage ceremony, as 
witnessed in his early days, is furnished by an aged descend- 
ant of one of the first families which formed the settlement. 

These occasions were celebrated with the strongest demon- 
strations of joy. When two persons were about to be united 
in wedlock, it was customary for the gentleman, in company 
with the father of the lady, or some one of her nearest 
connections, to go to the minister of the town and request 
publishment ; this, the minister more usually employed the 
elerk of the parisli to perform, but somet:mes did it himself. 
In the mean time, preparations were made for a sumptuous 
entertainment. The guests were all invited at least three 
days before the wedding, it being considered an unpardon- 
able- affront, to receive an invitation only a day previous. 

Tlie bridegroom selected one of his intimate friends for 
the " best man," who was to officiate as master of the cer- 
emony, and the bride likewise one of her companions, as 
" best maid." The morning of the marriage-day was ushered 
in with the discharge of musketry, in the respective neighbor- 
hoods of the persons who were to be united. This practice 
it seems originated in Ireland, in consequence of the Catholics 
having been, after the Revolution, deprived of the use of fire- 
arms. The Protestants, proud of the superior privilege which 
they then enjoyed, made a display of tlieir warlike Instru- 
ments on all public occasions. Seldom was a respectable man 
married without his sword by his side. At the appointed 
hour, the groom proceeded from his dweiling with his select 
friends, male and female ; about half way on their progress 
to the house of the bride, they were met by her select male 
friends ; and, on meeting, each company made choice of one of 
their number to " run for the bottle " to the bride's house. 
The champion of the race who returned first with the bottle, 
gave a toast, drank to the bridegroom's health, and, having 



CIVIL HISTORY. 75 

passed round the bottle, the whole party proceeded, saluted 
by the firing of muskets from the houses they passed, and 
answeriiig these salutes with pistols. When arrived at the 
bride's residenee, the bridegroom's corapany were placed 
in an apartment by themselves, and it was considered an act 
of imjioliteness for any one of the bride's company to intrude. 
When the ceremony was to commence, the " best man " first 
introduced the bridegroom ; then, entering the bride's apart- 
ment, led her into the room, and, placing her at the right 
hand of her " intended," took his station directly behind, as 
did the " best maid." The minister commenced the marriage 
service with prayer ; on requesting the parties to join hands, 
each put the right hand behind, when the glove was drawn 
off by the best man and maid. Their hands being joined, 
the marriage covenant was addressed to them, with appro- 
priate remarks on the nature and responsibilities of the 
connection thus formed. Having concluded with another 
prayer, he requested the groom to salute his bride, which being 
done, the minister performed the same ceremony, and was 
immediately foliowed by the male part of the company ; the 
females in like manner saluted the bridegroom. 

The ceremony being concluded, the whole company sat 
down to the entertainment, at which the best man and best 
maid presided. Soon after the entertainment, the room was 
cleared for the dance and other amusements, " and the 
evening," remarks our aged informant, kindling at the re- 
collection of by-gone scènes, " was spent with a degree of 
pleasure of which our modern fashionables are perfectly 
ignorant." 

The foregoing is a brief sketch of a Scotch-Irish wedding, 
as usually witnessed. But there was another form of mar- 
riage which became somewhat fashionable. 

For some years previous to the Revolution, the governor 
of New Hampshire, appointed by the crovyi, was authorized 
to grant licenses for marriage, as a means of augmenting his 



76 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

salary, which was in those days small. He was allowed 
two crowns for each license which he signed. This yielded 
a considerable revenue, as facihties were thus afforded for 
claiidestine marriages, which often produced serious evils. 
The ministers of this town opposed the practice ; and it was 
regarded by the church as a subject of discipline, as several 
instances on the records of the church clearly show ; but 
there were ministers who approved of this mode of marrying, 
and furnished themselves with licenses from the governor, to 
be filled out by them as occasion might require. 

This was the case with the Rev. Mr. Flagg, of Chester, to 
whom those who wished to be married without publishment 
would resort from this and other towns. Hence such marriages 
were usually termed in this community " Flagg marriages." 
Several elopements and marriages took place in this way by 
persons of this town, some of a romantic character. In one 
case, the parties had been published, and the day of marriage 
had arrived ; all arrangements were made, and the bride's 
company had left her house to meet the bridegroom, as before 
described. In the mean time another gentleman rode up to 
the door : the horse being provided with a j)illion, she imme- 
diately mounted behind him and departed, and, before the 
intended bridegroom had reached her father's dweiling, she 
was the wife of another. Such instances created a strong 
sensation in the community, and rendered them still more 
tenacious in their adherence to their ancient customs in this 
respect. 

Their funeral observances were of a character, in some 
respects, peculiar. When death entered their community, 
and one of their number was removed, there was at once a 
cessation of all labor in the neighborhood. The people gath- 
ered together at the house of mourning, and during the 
earlier periods of the settlement, observed a custom which 
they had brought.with them from Ireland, called the " wake," 
or watching with the dead, from night to night, until the 



CIVIL HISTORT. 77 

interment. These night scènes often exhibited a mixture of 
seriousness and of humor which appear incompatible. The 
Scriptures wóuld be read, prayer offered, and words of coun- 
sel and consolation administered ; but ere long, according to 
established usage, the glass, with its exhilarating beverage, 
must circulate freely ; so that, before the dawn, the joke and 
the laugh, if not scènes more boisterous, would " break in 
upon the slumbers of the dead." 

At the funeral, whatever might have been the age, the 
character, or condition of the deceased, the assemblage would 
be large. Every relative, however distant the connection, 
must surely be present, or it would be regarded as a 
marked neglect ; and it was expected that all the friends and 
acquaintance of the deceased, within a reasonable distance, 
would attend. Although funeral sermons were seldom if 
ever delivered on the occasion, yet there would be usually 
as large a congregation as assembled on the Sabbatli. Pre- 
vious to the prayer, spirit was handed-around, not oniy to the 
mourners and bearers, but to the whole assembly. Again, 
after prayer, and before the cofïin was removed, the same was 
done. Nearly all would follow the body to the grave, and 
usually the greater number walked. Processions, from a 
third to a half a mile in length, were not unfrequent. At 
their return, the comforting draught was again administered, 
and ample entertainment provided. Many a family became 
embarrassed, if not impoverished, in consequence of the heavy 
expenses incurred, not so much by the sickness which pre- 
ceded the death of one of its members, as by the funeral ser- 
vices as then observed, and which as they supposed respect 
for the dead required. 

Their diversions and scènes of social intercourse were of 
a character not the most refined and cultivated ; displaying 
physical rather than intellectual and moral powers, — such 
as boxing-matches, wrestling, foot-races, and other athletic 
exercises. At all public gatherings, the " ring " would be 

7* 



78 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

usually formed ; and the combatants, in the presence of neigh- 
bors, brothers, and even fathers, would encounter each other 
in close-fight, or at arms-length, as the prescribed forra might 
be ; thus giving and receiving the well-directed blow, until 
the face, limbs, and body of each bore the marks of almost 
savage brutality. All this was done, not in anger, or from 
unkind feeling towards each other, but simply to test the 
superiority of strength and agility. 

The females, also, had their social interviews ; but they 
were unlike parties of modern times, marked by cold formal- 
ity, or ceremonious politeness, and by the exhibition and dis- 
play of costly attire and finery. They would assemble from 
time to time at each other's dwellings, carrying with them 
the small wheel and the flax, and spend a long half day in 
social talk and diligent labor, combining in the happiest man- 
ner pleasure and profit. 

The Scotch-Irish have been distinguished for their wit 
and quïckness of ret(ft*t. Their repartees were often in a 
high degree sarcastic as well as humorous. The author had 
purposed to collect and insert a few anecdotes as illustrative 
of this trait of character, and which might also serve to 
enliven the historie details which chiefly compose this work. 
But in attempting it, he was soon reminded of an incident 
connected with the delivery of an election sermon, by Rev. 
Dr. Morrison, before the New Hampshire legislature. The 
legislature having voted to publish the discourse, and having 
specified the number of copies to be printed, a raember of 
the body moved for an additional number, " provided they 
would also print the hroguer It was this, that often gave 
peculiar force and pungency to what was uttered : but this 
we cannot print. 

Such were the traits which characterized the settlers of 
Londonderry, and their immediate descendants. The sub- 
stantial clements of their character well deserve attention, 
and long may they be cherished and perpetuated by their 



CIVIL HISTORT. 79 

posterity. " Their faults — and faults they had — partly be- 
longed to the times, but were more the effect of strong feel- 
ings without the advantages of early discipline. At the same 
time, they had in them the rudiments of a real refinement, 
— warm, kind, and gentle feelings ; and specimens of polite- 
ness w^ere found among them worthy of the patriarchal age. 

They have indeed long since passed away, but they have 
left their impress upon the generations which have succeeded 
them. Forever honored be their names, forever cherished 
their memories ; not only by those who dweil on the spot 
planted by their hands, but by their numerous and wide- 
spread descendants ; of whom it may truly be said, " The 
glory of children is their fathers." 

Many, indeed, of their descendants in the several profes- 
sions, and in the various walks of public and private life, 
have sustained characters of distinguished excellence, and 
lilled some of the highest offices — literary, military, civil, 
and sacred — in the country. We can name those descend- 
ing from this company of emigrants, who have* held seats in 
the American Congress, who have presided in our higher 
seminaries of learning, who have fiUed places in our State 
council and senate, who have signalized themselves by mili- 
tary achievements, who have sustained the chief magistracy 
of the Commonwealth, and who have been distinguished as 
ministers of the gospel. 

The growth of the settlement w^as very rapid, and the 
early settlers received frequent accessions to their number. 
Their fellow-countrymen, then in America, flocked to join 
them, while emigrants from Ireland, on their amval in New 
England, mostly sought a residence in the colony here es- 
tablished ; so that, as we have seen, the number of families 
increased in a few months from sixteen to seventy, and the 
population continued to augment in such a degree, that, at its 
incorporation, three years after its commencement, the sev- 
eral lots into which the town had been divided, were mostly 



80 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

taken up, and families planted throughout its various sec- 
tions. 

Althougli they did not at first obtain an act of incorporation 
as a township, yet, receiving the protection of government, 
and the benefits of law, they proceeded to organize them- 
selves into a civil community, and to appoint suitable ofïicers 
for the due management of its concerns, and the promotion 
of its interests. Their first regular meeting for the transac- 
tion of town business, was lield November 9, 1719. 

" The town voated Mr. James McKeen for Moderator. On 
the said day, was voated for Town Clerk, John Goffe." 

"At an adjourned meeting, November 20th, 1719. 

" The Town voated, that seven men should be chosen as a 
comnlittee for the managing of the publiek affairs of this 
town, and the names of the members are as followeth : David 
Cargil, James McKeen, James Gregg, Robart Wier, John 
Morison, Samuel Graves, and John Goffe." 

This committee, in the laying out and disposal of the lots, 
agreed that tlie first settlers, to the number of twenty, should 
each have an additional lot to dispose of to any person whom 
they should see cause to settle on it. This act of the committee 
occasioned much dissatisfaction.* The town, at a meeting 
in July, 1720, " Voted to refer the whole matter to the Gen- 
eral Court, at their next session at the Bank," that is, Ports- 
mouth, that place being originally called Strawberry Bank. 

Li October following, Lieutenant-govcrnor Wentworth 
visited the town for the i:)tirpose of adjusting this and other 
difiiculties. He ordered that " Ensign Blair, John MacNeil, 
and Hugh Montgomery, should be joined to the committee 
in the management of the public affairs of the town ;" and it 

* From this vote it appears, that although but sixtcen families first took 
possession of the ground selectcd for a scttlcment, tliey were very soon 
joined by four others, making ihc twenty who chiimcd and rcccived 
these additional lots as the first settlers, namcly, John Gregg, John 
Goffe, Elias Keyes, and Joseph Simonds. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 81 

was ordered by the governor, that they should have f uil 
powers to lay out the highways in this town, " the wayes to 
be laid out, not to be under four rods wide." This direction 
was, however, very generally neglected, so that most of the 
roads were not more than two rods wide. 

Such was the regard of this people to the institutions of the 
gospel, that they no sooner obtained a title to the soil, and 
were organized into a township, than they began, notwith- 
standing their embarrassed circumstances, to make arrange- 
ments for the erection of a house of worship, in order to the 
more convenient enjoyment of Christian privileges. We 
find in the town records the folio wing minutes in regard to 
its erection. 

At a general town meeting, June 3, 1720, " On the day 
above said, the Town voated that their shall be a small 
house built that may be convenient for the inhabitants to 
meet in for the worship of God, and that it shall bé built as 
sune as it can with conveniency ; allso that the house shall 
be built as near the senter of the one hundred and five lots, 
as can be with conveneance." 

At a general town meeting, June 29, 1720, " The town 
then voated that the meeting-house shall be built within 
seven rhods of a black stake set up either upon or near unto 
Mr. McGregor's lott." 

« January y^ llth, 1720-21. At a general Town meeting 
it was voated, that a meeting-house shall be built in this town 
as speedely as may be, and that the above said house shall 
be fifty feet in length, forty five feet broad, and so high as 
may be conveneant for one set of galeryes." " On the day 
aforesaid, voated that two men be chosen as a committee to 
agree with the carpenter, and other affairs relaiting to said 
house. The members chosen for said committe are Mr. 
James McKeen, and Mr. Samuel More." 

The house was raised and finished the following year ; and 
thus, in a little more than two years from their settlement 



82 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

here in the wilderness, they dedicated to the service of God 
a convenient and well-finished house of' worship, while they 
constructed their own houses of logs ; regarding not, as many 
do, their own private gratification and convenience, to the 
neglect of the divine honor and the interests of the soul, — 
" dvvelling in their own ceiled houses, while the house of 
God is neglected." 

In this undertaking, attended as it must have been at that 
early period with very considerable expense, on account 
of the difRculty of obtaining the requisite materials, they 
were kindly aided by Governor Wentworth, and other benev- 
olent gentlemen in and near Portsmouth. 

The house of worship thus erected, was situated a few feet 
north of the spot occupied by the present house. A more 
pleasant and favorable location could not have been selected 
within the limits of their township. In this house they con- 
tinued to worship nearly fifty years, until 17G9, when a new^ 
more capacious, and better finished one was erected. 

The men who laid the foundation of this community were 
mindful, not only of the religious interests of themselves and 
families, but also of the means of education. In 1723, a 
schoolhouse was built upon the Common, near the meeting- 
house. It was of logs, and but sixteen feet long and twelve 
wide. In this humble building commenced the education of 
those who were, in after years, distinguished for their attain- 
ments and usefulness. In 1725, only six years after their 
settlement, it was " Voted in town meeting, that there should 
be a school in each quarter of the town six months in a year, 
if suitable instructoi:s could be procured."* 

* The following are the namcs of some of the early school- teachers 
cmployed in the town, namely, Robert Morrison, Eleanor Aiken, John 
Barnett, W. Harvey, and Archibald Wier wirc cmployed in 1725; 

John Wilson, William Wallace, Ezckiel Stcele. and Morton, in 

1733; Thomas Boyes, Francis Bryan, and Goodall in 1735; 

Matthew Campbell, Thomas Bacon, William McNcil, and John 



CIVIL HISTORT. 83 

In this early and prompt attention to the means of educa- 
tion, we mark the wisdom and foresight of these men. They 
sought to found the prosperity of their community on the 
cultivation of the mind, as well as on the improvement of the 
heart. Knowledge, as well as piety, were in their view 
essential to the maintenance of civil and religious institutions, 
if not to the attainment of salvation. They had while in their 
native land given no countenance to the popish dogma, that 
ignorance is the mothgr of devotion. They were by no 
means an uninformed people. They were not only imbued 
early with religious truth, but favored with common school 
education, which was at that time more generally enjoyed in 
Scotland, and the north of Ireland, than in England. The 
great proportion of them could read and write, while a few 
were more highly educated. This early attention to educa- 
tion has not declined in the community they established. 
The regard which has been paid to learning by the inhabi- 
tants of Londonderry, appears from the literary institutions 
here established, and from the number and charaeter of their 
educated men, who will be more particularly noticed here- 
after. 

To meet the expenses of the settlement, it was voted in 
town meeting, March 25, 1721, that "all the lots in this 
town be rated thirty shillings per lott, from the first settle- 
ment thereof unto this present day." 

As the lots assigned to the proprietors, by the men chosen 
to manage the prudential affairs of the town, were not of 
like value, considerable difïiculty arose in equalizing the 
claims of the settlers. In order to an adjustment of these 
difficulties, and to secure to eacli an equivalent for any defect 

Eayrcs in 1736; Mary McNeil, Daniel Todd, and William McNeil in 
1737. 

The amount of money expended for schools in 1725, was £36, 4s. 
The amount assessed for ministers' ratcs in 1726, was £98, 12s. ld. ; in 
1727, it was £128. 16s.5d. 



84 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



in their respective lots, a special committee was appointed, 
consisting of James Gregg, Samuel Graves, and Thomas 
Steele, and a vete passed, " that all persons that have a mind 
to complain of their lots may repair to the rtiree men above 
named, paying them for their time ; they are by them to have 
their lots valued, and a recompense made them according to 
their want, provided they make their complaint by the lOth 
of May next ensuing, and no allowance after that time." 

Although, as a people, they valued the gospel, and readily 
made self-denying efforts for the support of its institutions, 
yet there were individuals at that early day, as there have 
been since, who were not disposed to pay their just propor- 
tion of the expense thus incurred. Hence, we find that at a 
meeting, January 22, 1721-2, " in order to take some proper 
methods for giting in the minister's salary, ordered that a 
list be drawn forth of the arrears, and the town clerk to 
annex a warrent thereto, in order to the constables distrain- 
ing those persons that neglect or refuse to pay their rates to 
the minister." 

The following entry is upon their town book, and may 
serve to exhibit the charaeter of their financial concerns : 
"The town of Nutfield has raised, this present year, 1721, 
by the committee, 15 shillings per lot, which amounts to 
£81, Os, Od ; and it has been disposed of in the following 
manner ; also, £15, O, O, received of Gilmore, for half a lot 
sold by ye town ; also, £5, O, O, received of the governor, 
of ye town's money, and £11 pounds due from Constable 
Wear to the town ; in all, £112, O, 0." 

In the disbursement of this sum, as specified in the town 
accounts, we find the followinof items : — 
" To Alexander Nicols, for his going down for the 

clements of the sacrament, .... £0, 10, O 
" To James McNeel, for going to the Bank (i. e. 

Portsmouth) on the town business, . . 1, 5, O 
" To Arch. Clendenen, for work at Mr. McGregor's, 1, 1,0 



CIVIL HISTORY. 85 

" To Robert Wear, for carrying the prisoners to the 
Bank, calling the court, a constable staiF and 
charges at Chester, . . . . , 2, 8, 

" For the charges of the prisoners at his house, O, 4, 6 

" To Mr. McKeen, when he went to the Sessions at 
the Bank, when he got the promise of a gift to 
the town towards the building of the meeting- 
house, . , . . . . . O, 19, 6 

" To Mr. McGregor and Mr. McKeen, when they 

went to Governor Usher, .... O, 10,^9 

" To Daniel McFee, for going to the Bank with the 

prisoners, and making the town stock of bullits, O, 14, O 
" To James Alexander, for lead, . . . O, 2, O 
" To James McNeel, for going to the Bank for the 
money the gentlemen at the Bank promised to 
bestow on the town, towards building the meet- 
ing-house, . . . . . . . 2, 10, 

" To the Commissioners that go to the Bank on 

account of the town grant or charter, . . O, 7, 0." 
The foUowing entry may also show the simpllcity and 
economy of those times, in regard to public expenses. " At 
a general town meeting, January ye 19, 1719, the town 
voted, that seven men should be chosen as a committee for 
the viewing and laying out of lots and meadows ; and that 
the above committee shall have four shillings per day for 
their work." 

«March24, 1721-2. 
" The committee being met, and having cast up how manj 
dayes they have set upon the public affairs of this town, and 
finding it to be 20 dais to six of said committee, and ten dais 
to Joseph Simons. And the committee agreed to take their 
pay in work from the town." 

It appears from the records of the town, that there were 
three grand divisions of its lands, and that each proprietor 
received a lot in each of these separate divisions. 

8 



86 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

The indiviclual wlio imdertook the finishing of the meet- 
ing-house, was one Jeremiah Osgood, and, as it appears, he 
found it a losing job. 

"At a town meeting, March je 5, 1722. Voted, tliat 
Jeremiali Osgood shall have a tract of land allowed liim, in 
the coramon lands in this town, as a consideration for his loss 
in his work about the meeting-house in this town." 

" Voted, that the said Jeremiah Osgood shall also have 
one hundred acres in satisfaction for his work." 

• " On the said day the town voted, that the fairs and mar- 
kets shall be held at the meeting-house." 

" Voted, that the pound shall be made by the meeting- 
house ; that it shall be built this spring, before June next 
ensuing." 

" At a town meeting, October, 1723. Voted, that all per- 
sons who shall do any work for the town, shall be allowed 
two shillings and sixpence, and no more, per day. 

" Voted at the above meeting, that the select-men shall have 
power to take what methods they shall think fit, for the secur- 
ing the fishery at Amoskeag." 

As lumber for building was much needed by the settlers, 
they took immediate measures to have a saw-mill erected. 
A fall in the stream issuing from Beaver Pond, very near 
the centre of the town, afForded sufiicient water power, and 
formed a good site both for a saw-mill and a grist-mill. 

Accordingly, on the seventeenth of June, 1719, " The town 
ordered a saw-mill to be built on Beaver River, and the 
tenor of their agreement with the undertakers, viz. Robert 
Boyes, James Gregg, Samuel Graves, and Joseph Simonds, 
is as followeth : the above named have obliged themselves to 
build a saw-mill upon Beaver river, to be ready some time 
in the month of September, and that the said stream is 
granted to the above named men, and a lot of land to them 
and their heirs forever, only the above named James Gregg 
shall have full privilege to build a grist-mill upon the said 



CIVIL HISTORY. 87 

stream, tliat is to say, upon *Beaver river ; and tliat tlie said 
Samuel Graves, Robert Boyes, Josepli Simonds, and James 
Gregg, sliall have the prevelidge of the said stream from the 
foot of the falls to the upper end of beaver pond." This 
privilege of a mill stream was subsequentlj confirmed in the 
charter " particularlj, to James Gregg and John GofFe, for 
their good services in promoting the settlement of the town," 

The next year, 1720-1, the committee intrusted with the 
management of the public affairs of the town, " being peti- 
tioned to by William Aiken, John Bell, Andrew Todd, John 
Wallis, James Aiken, and Benjamin Wilson, for the grant of 
a stream or brook, which commonly goes by the name of 
Aiken's brook, in order to the setting up of a saw-mill there- 
on, and also one acre of land adjoining to said brook, that 
will be convenient for a yard to said mill. The committee 
having taken it into consideration, and thinking that it may 
tend to the publiek good of this town to have more milis set 
up in it, granted their request, and by virtue of the power 
and trust committed to them, secured to the petitioners the 
said stream or brook, on the condition that what boards they 
should have to dispose of, the inhabitants of this town shall 
have the refusal of, at the rate of thirty shillings per thou- 
sand, and sawing, at fifteen shillings per thousand." 

This mill was on the site of the one now occupied by Mr. 
Horne. In the following year, a grist-mill was erected by 
James Gregg, in what is now the lower village, and a lot of 
land secured to him in consequence by the town, of which we 
have the following minute in their town records. " The town 
voated that Mr. James Gregg shall have his grist-mill lot 
laid out to him upon the south side of beaver river." 

A few years after, another grist-mill was erected on the 
stream which empties into Beaver Pond, near its mouth, and 
which for more than a century has been owned and improved 
by the descendants of John McMurphy, Esq. Until the 
erection of these milis, the inhabitants were subject to great 



88 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

inconvenience in obtaining their meal. Oxen and horses 
not being yet cominon among them, many were obliged to 
carrj their grain upon tlieir slioulders, a distance of some 
miles, to be ground. In some families, the hand-mill, of 
which we read in Scripture, was used. The stones are now 
occasionally seen among the relies of the ancient dwellings. 
They were usually tiirned, as in Jiidea of old, by two women. 

By means of the saw-mills, which were soon in operation, the 
people were much aided in procuring materials for building. 
The log huts in which they had at first resided, soon gave place 
to substantial framed-houses, many of them two stories high. 
They were usually after the same model, and by no means 
in accordance with modern notions of economy in the saving 
of fuel, or of convenience in the performance of household 
labor. The Rev. Mr. MacGregor's house was the first 
erected ; it is now standing, and is a fair representation of 
the style of the better class of their dvvelling-houses ; two 
stories in front and one story in the rear. The internal con- 
struction was uniformly the same. There were two large 
front rooms, the kitchen was back, extending nearly across 
the house, with ample " dressers," and a sink at one end, and 
a bedroom at the other. 

The fireplace in the kitchen extended nearly a third of the 
length of the room. It was four or five feet high, with jambs 
sufïiciently spacious to contain logs two or three feet in diam- 
eter, and eight feet long. Back in the corner of the fireplace 
was a capacious oven, while in both corners, under the chim- 
ney, was room for benches, which were the usual seats for 
the children. 

These large kitchens, none of which remain in their orig- 
inal form, contributed much to the domestic enjoyment of the 
early settlers. Not only the members of the household, 
usually large in those days, but the collcctions of neighbors, 
which were tlien frequent, would form an evening circle 
around the blazing hearth, productive, perhaps, of more sub- 



CIVIL HISTORT. 



89 



stantial (if not equallj refined) pleasure, than is now expe- 
rienced in social parties. The one-story framed buildings, 
resembled in all respects tliose just described, except in the 
want of the two square front-chambers. 

In their out-door arrangements, their barns, out-houses, 
fields, and fences, the early settlers manifested a negligence, a 
want of skill, taste, and good husbandry, rarely to be witnessed 
in the town at this time. In all these particulars there has 
been a very marked advance. They feit not the need of agri- 
cultural improvements. The soil was rich and productive, 
their wants comparatively few, and their time necessarily oc- 
cupied in making their first clearings, laying out and fencing 
their fields and roads, and rendering their situation comfort- 
able. They labored — others have entered into their labors. 

Being now duly organized as a township ; their lots as- 
signed, and many of them under improvement ; a meeting- 
house well finished, and an able and acceptable pastor settled 
over them ; the settlement rapidly rosé in character, in num- 
bers, and importance. The population increased not only 
by births but by emigration. 

The first person born in Londonderry was Jonathan Mor- 
rison, son of John and Margaret Morrison ; who was born 
Sept. 8, 1719. The second, was James McKeen, Jr. Their 
births were not far apart, " and there was much anxious 
expectation," says a venerable man, now Hving, Judge 
McKeen of New York, who personally knew the rivals, 
" which mother's son sliould obtain the prize of a farm or lot 
of land, which was to be assigned to the first-born son of 
Londonderry." 

John Morrison removed after a few years to Peterborough, 
and became the ancestor of many of the more distinguished 
characters who have originated from that town, among whom 
was the Hon. Jeremiah Smith. 

His son Jonathan, to whom we have referred, became dis- 
tinguished as a mechanic, being the first, and for a consider- 

8* 



90 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

able time the only one in Peterborough. He was, as stated 
in the centenary discourse delivered in that town, " a mill- 
wright, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a house-joiner, a stone- 
cutter, a gun-maker, and had the rei3utation of being really 
a workman at all these trades. He was a man highly gifted, 
distinguished for quickness of parts, great ingenuity, and 
generous in the extreme. He removed from Peterborough 
to Vermont, and died about the year 1778." 

The first marriage in Londonderry was that of John Walis 
and Annis Barnard, by the Rev. Mr. MacGregor, May 18, 
1721. 

The second, was that of John Barnett and Joan Seaford, (?) 
by Mr. MacGregor, Nov. 2, 1721. 

John Crombie and Joan Rankin, were mariied on the 
17thofNov. 1721. 

The first person who died in the town was John Clark, 
January 13, 1720-1. 

The next whose death is recorded is Mary Leslie, the 
wife of James Leslie, who died April 8, 1722. 

The spot selected by this company as the last resting-place 
on earth for themselves and their descendants, was the lot 
which has ever since been occupied as a cemetery. Here 
reposes the dust, not only of those who first took possession 
of the township, but of five generations who have folio wed 
them to the house appointed for all the living. " A walk," 
says a late visitor of the place, " through its crowded grave- 
yard, through the moss-covered stones, marking the spots 
which contain the remnants of men of former days ; the fre- 
quency with which the same name occurs, as in long lines of 
tomb-stones families seem to repose together, shows that this 
people have dwelt alone, and not mingled with others." This 
remark applies to the earlier generations. 

The land thus occupied as a graveyard, together with the 
Common, on which the meeting-house stands, was conveyed 
as a gift to the town, by Robert MacGregor, for these pub- 



CIVIL HISTORY. 91 

lic purposes, in 1729.* As deatli multiplied its tropliies 
from one generation to anotlier, tlie place originally assigned 
for the dead, containing about three acres, became too limited 
for tlieir reception, and was enlarged in 1816, and again in 
1846 ; so that the inclosure now contains twice the original 
area. 

On October 29, 1729, there was an earthquake, the severest 
ever known in New England, causing the earth to quake 
with a terrible noise, and producing the greatest imaginable 
terror. It happened at ten o'clock in the eveniiig. The 
heavens were clear, the atmosphere perfectly calm, and the 
moon was shining in her brightness. Mr. MacGregor, feel- 
ing for his beloved flock, at once arose and prepared to go 
among them. He was reminded that his family needed his 
presence at home. "O," said he, " I have a still greater fam- 
ily, which I must care for." As he was hastening to their 
dwellings, he met numbers of them simultaneously flocking 
to his own house, that they might receive from him counsel 
and consolation in the hour of alarm. The shock extended 
several hundred miles, its greatest force being displayed at 
NlWbury, Mass., only twenty miles from Londonderry, where 
the earth opened in several places. A general seriousness 
foliowed. In many towns, numbers were awakened and 
hopefully converted, a reformation of morals was visible, fam- 
ily pray er was more generally attended, and great additions 
wêre made to many churches. 

The settlement continuing to receive accessions from Ire- 
land, and elsewhere, was so increased in its population, that, 
as early as 1730, but eleven years from its commencement, 
a petition was presented at a town meeting, by sundry per- 
sons in the westerly part of the township, " to be set off, as a 
parish, for the better enjoyment of religious privileges." 

The petition was at this time refused, but being from time 
to time renewed, the request was, in 1735, granted by the 

* See Appendix. 



92 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

town, and about sixty families became a distinct religious 
society, known hy the name of the West Parish of London- 
deriy, in distinction from the original society, afterwards 
usually styled the First, or East Parish. 

Previous to this division of the town into parishes, or about 
the time of it, a meeting-house was built on the hill, near 
what is now usually termed " the old graveyard." No account 
of the erection of this house appears on any town or parish 
records. The probability is, that it was built by certain indi- 
viduals, in anticipation of the formation of a new parish, and 
as a means of securing that object. It was also supposed by 
those engaged in its erection, that this would be the central 
point in the new parish, and the place of worship. But cir- 
cumstances occurred which served to fix the location else- 
where. Rev. David MacGregor, son of the first minister, 
about this time received license to preach the gospel. He 
possessed distinguished gifts, and gave high promise of future 
acceptableness and usefulness as a minister of Christ. The 
second parish had selected him, in case of their organization 
by the General Court, as their future pastor. A number of 
families in the east part of the town, from strong attachrrffent 
to Mr. MacGregor as the son of their first minister, to whom, 
also, many of them wère relatives, and being not fuUy satisfied 
with Rev. Mr. Davidson, who had been recently settled as 
pastor of the first religious society, made application to 
become mombers of the new parish, and were received. 
Residing, as they mostly did, east of the old or first meeting- 
house, their influence was such as to induce the West parish 
to locate their house of worship at the Aiken's Range, more 
than a mile east of the house which had been built for that 
purpose. 

This of course greatly disaffected many who resided west 
of this spot. They therefore withdrew from the new, and 
reunited with the old parish. Hence the act of the General 
Court, incorporating the second parish, which was not ob- 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



93 



tained until 1740, contained a clause authorizing forty 
families, who lived within the bounds of the East parish, to 
be taxed for the support of the gospel in the West parish, 
and an equal number in the West, to be taxed in the East 
parish. This continued in force until 1778, when, at the 
request of the town, the clause was repealed, and these 
families were confined in the pajment of the ministerial tax 
to the parish within whose bounds they resided ; although 
manj continued to worship as they had before done, until 
the causes of the division were reraoved by the erection of a 
new house of worship in a more central part of the West 
parish.* 

The first store of foreign and domestic goods in the town, 
was opened by Elder, or as he was more usually called 
Major, John Pinkerton. He was born in Ireland, and came 
with his father to this country when he was about four years 
of age. He commenced business quite early in life, carrying 
a variety of lighter goods in a pack upon his back, and re- 
ceiving in exchange for these articles, linen cloth and thread, 
which were carried by him into different parts of New Eng- 
land, and disposed of with profit, the manufactures of this 
town being in high demand. Havmg in this way accumu- 
lated a small property, he opened, about the year 1750, a 
store of goods. It was kept in a room in his dwelling-house. 
This he continued nearly fifty years, and by his judicious 
management and economy, united with strict moral principle 
and conduct, he secured the full confidence and the patronage 
of the community, and accumulated a very large estate, thirty 
thousand dollars of which he devoted to the interests of the 
town, in support of its religious institutions, and the endow- 
ment of an academy which bears his name. 

His brother, Elder James Pinkerton, a few years younger, 
adopted a similar course, and opened the second store in the 
town. This he also sustained until advanced age, and like 



* Sec Appendix. 



94 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

his brotlier was successful in business, liaving to contend at 
that daj with but little competition. For a long period, 
Londonderry and the neighboring tówns were supplied 
principallj bj the Pinkertons with merchandise. They 
were both men of more than ordinary financial ability, 
" uniting in their character Scotch prudence and stability, 
with Yankee enterprise." To the donation made by Elder 
John Pinkerton for founding an academy, his brother James 
added a sum which now amounts to three thousand dollars. 

These two brothers, thus distinguished by their strict 
moral and religieus principles and habits, and their industry 
and success in business, afford an example to young men at 
the present day, which they would do well to imitate, — to 
be satisfied with slow and steady gains, and not to hasten 
to be rich, — and especially " to seek first the kingdom of 
heaven, and its righteousness." 

They both sustained the ofRce of ruling Elder in the 
church, and offices of civil trust and respectability in the 
town. They frequently represented it in General Court. 
They were not only the principal merchants, but chief 
bankers, of those days. Persons wishing to hire money 
usually went to them, and from one or the otlier, would gen- 
erally obtain the desired loan, provided they could furnish 
the security requisite. In this they were particularly care- 
ful. If but one indorser was ofFered, the Major, who was 
the principal loaner, would usually reply, " a threefold cord 
is not easily broken ; you may give me another name." 

A striking contrast is presented between the stores of that 
day and those of the present. A small room in a dwelling- 
house, was then usually deemed sufficiently spacious to con- 
tain the variety of West India and English goods, necessary 
to meet the calls of the public. 

• Shortly before the Revolution, another store was opened in 
the East part of the town, by James MacGregor, Esq., son 
of Rcv. David MacGregor ; since which period stores have 



CIVIL HISTORY. 95 

been multiplied and the business increased in the town. In 
1741, another religious society was formed in the south 
part of the town, which was, the next year, incorporated as a 
parish with town privileges, taking the name of Windham, 
from a place of that name similarly situated in relation to 
Londonderry in Ireland. 

In 1751, the town of Derryfield was incorporated. It was 
composed of a part of Chester, a part of Londonderry, and 
of lands not before granted to any town, and contained nearly 
the same territory now embraced in the charter of Man- 
chester. 

The times preceding the American Revolution were, in 
respect to the infant settlements, full of anxiety, trouble, 
and peril. Many of them suffered severely from the incur- 
sions of savage foes. The year 1744 was rendered memora- 
ble by a renewal of hostilities between France and England, 
which was a sure precursor of war in America, between the 
French and Indians on the one hand, and the English col- 
onies on the other. This war continued with little abate- 
ment about fifteen years, and has been long denominated the 
" old French war." 

During these scènes of alarm and of cruel massacres, 
experienced by many of the frontier settlements, London- 
derry was happily exempt from the assaults of the Indians ; 
yet its inhabitants were as patriotic and as prompt in defence 
of the country, as any body of citizens whatever. At the 
call of government, a number from this town, mostly volun- 
teers, joined the noted expedition agaiftst Cape Breton. 
This was one of the most bold and fortunate attempts during 
this loniz; and distressino; war. 

The place was strongly fortified, yet its reduction was 
efFected by Col. William Pepperell, a merchant, at the head 
of a body of husbandmen and mechanics. The New Hamp- 
shire troops, animated with enthusiastic, if not religious 
ardor, partook readily and largely of all the labors and dan- 



96 HISTORY OP LONDONDERRT. 

gers of the siege. They were eraployed during fourteen 
successive nights, with straps over their shoulders, and 
sinking to their knees in mud, in drawing cannon frora the 
landing-place to the camp, through a morass. 

Pepperell, as stated by several writers, consiilted with the 
celebrated George Whitefield, who was then in America, in 
regard to the expedition. He encouraged the measure, and 
gave it the appearance of a crusade, by proposing, as a motto 
for their flag, the words " Nil desperandum, Christo duce," 
a motto truly appropriate to any Christian enterprise, where 
success is to be attained not by carnal but by spiritual 
weapons ; but of its application to such a warlike measure as 
this, we may well doubt. 

Dr. Matthew Thornton, of Londonderry, subsequently one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, served in 
this campaign, as surgeon. 

On tlie renewal of hostilities in 1756, between the Frehch 
and the English, in w^hich the infant colonies of New Eng- 
land were more seriously threatened with total extirpation 
than they had ever before been, Londonderry again prom2)tly 
bore its full share in their protection and defence. A regi- 
ment having been raised in New Hampshire, to assist in an 
attempt upon Crown Point, and it being distinguished for 
hard! bood and adroitness in traversing the woods, three 
companies of rangcrs were selected from it, and placed under 
the command of the celebrated John Stark (afterwards briga- 
dier-general in the army of the Revolution), WiUiam Stark, 
and Robert Rogers. The three captains and many of their 
soldiers were from Londonderry. Ca})t. Rogers, a brave 
and skilful officer, was soon after promoted to the rank of 
Major, and under his command, the three companies of 
rangers performed aetive and etiicient service during the war. 

To encourage its citizens to engage in the enterprise, the 
town voted " that every soldier that should enlist in order to 
the rcduction of Crown Point, shall receive thirty pounds 



CIVIL HISTORY. 97 

bounty." A company of men was here enlisted under the 
command of Capt. John Moor, an active and enterprising 
officer, and, joining the regiment from New Hampshire, 
penetrated with much diöiculty and suffering into Canada, 
and aided in the reduction of those provinces, and their 
subjection to the British crown. 

Quebec having fallen into the hands of the English, the 
consequent surrender of all the French possessions in Can- 
ada, brought again the prospect of a settled tranquillity to 
the northern colonies, and was inexpressibly cheering to those 
who had so long borne the heat and burden of the day. For 
many years the " father had not cultivated his field in safety, 
nor had the mother committed her infant charge to rest, but 
with the most distressing apprehensions." But now^ every- 
thing was encouraging to the view of the colonists. They 
were exempt from the fear of a lurking enemy ; while their 
hardships and exposures had rendered them bold and enter- 
prising. In marching to and from the theatre of war, they 
had become acquainted with the fertile parts of the interior 
of their country, and the young men pressed onward with 
ardor to take possession of the wilderness, and to couvert it 
into a fruitful field. 

Londonderry, by the rapid increase of the early settlers and 
continued accessions of their countrymen from abroad, soon 
became populous, and sent forth many colonies to form new 
settlements in the vicinity, and in more remote parts of the 
country, now open for cultivation. A large number of the 
pioneers of civilization in New Hampshire, Yermont, INIaine, 
New York, and Nova Scotia, were from this town. Of som e 
of these settlements, by Londonderry emigrants, a more 
particular, but brief account, will be given. 

The first company which left, was in 1737. They passed 
over the Merrimack river and settled in Bedford, and were 
in sueceeding years joined by others from their native land 
and from Massachusetts. A number of families from London- 

9 



98 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

derry removed to Merrimack, adjoining Bedford, which had 
been a short time before settled by a company from Massa- 
chusetts. In Bedford, the Scotch-Irish infliience predomi- 
nated ; in Merrimack, the English. 

The one class of settlers was strongly attached not only 
fo the doctrines, but to the discipline, of the Presbyterian 
church ; the other, as strongly to the Congregational mode 
of discipline. While a Presbyterian church was formed in 
Bedford, a Congregational church was organized in Merri- 
mack. Consequently, a number of the inhabitants of Merri- 
mack united, for several years, with the people of Bedford, in 
religious privileges, while sundry others, of Bedford, united 
with the people of Merrimack. 

In 1741, an emigration of a number of families to the 
valley of the Mohawk west of the Hudson river, took place, 
and the settlement of Cherry Valley was thereby commenced. 
About the same time, a small party of hardy and enter- 
prising men, joined by some of their countrymen from 
Lunenburg, Mass., attempted to form a settlement at Peter- 
borough, and though at first repulsed by thè difficulties and 
dangers which attended it, they ultimately succeeded. 

About the year 1760, a number of families emigrated from 
Londonderry to Nova Scotia, soon after its evacuation by the 
French, and settled in the towns of Truro and Londonderry. 
In 1767, a settlement was formed by Londonderry emi- 
grants in Antrim. Soon after, another company planted 
themselves in Henniker, a neighboring town ; and still an- 
other in Deering, and laid in cach of these places tlie 
foundation of a valuable and flourishing community. 

In 1766, a small party removed to Acworth, in this State, 
and united with a few families from Connecticut, in forming 
that township. About the year 1 774, a few families removed 
from this town to a tract of country in Yermont, which had 
been purchased by a Mr. James Rogers. It was subse- 
quently incorporated into two townships, Londonderry and 



CIVIL HISTORT. 99 

Windham, as the early settlers were mostly from tliose 
towns. Among these were James Rogers, S. Thompson, 
James Patterson, Edward Aiken, John Woodburn, and 
James McCormick. 

New Boston was settled by a colony from Londonderry 
still earlier, and was, more exclusively than either of the 
other settlements, confined to those of Scotch-Irish descent. 
In addition to these, many other towns in their early settle- 
ment received accessions from this town, as Litchfield, Hud- 
son, Amherst, Dunstable, and Chester. Thus, during the 
period of twenty-five years preceding the Revohition, ten 
distinct settlements were made by emigrants from London- 
derry, all of which have become towns of influence and im- 
portance in the State. And while the town afforded colonists 
to form other settlements, the church here proved a hive, 
from which most of the churches, which now constitute the 
Presbytery of Londonderry, derived their origin. It also 
contributed largely to the organization, strength, and stability 
of other religious societies. Most of the Congregational 
churches in the vicinity, and many in the more distant parts 
of the State, have received accessions from this. Wherever 
a Londonderry man was found, there, with few exceptione, 
was found a steadfast supporter of the gospel, as well as of 
civil institutions. No subjects were more obedient to the 
authorities appointed by the mother country, or more ready 
to sustain them, than the citizens of Londonderry. 

While we were colonies, it appears that the officers of 
government, who derived their appointment from the crown, 
not unfrequently received from individuals and communities 
gifts, which were regarded, not perhaps as bribes, but.as per- 
quisites attached to their office, and which they were at 
liberty to receive as such. Yet the practice was regarded as 
rather disreputable, and required at times concealment, as 
appears from the following record. 

One article of the warrant for a town meeting in 1774, 



100 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

" was to see if tliey will allow a small gift to be given to a 
special friencl to the town," no name being mentioiied. On 
being considered, it was voted " that the selectmen purchase 
one hundred weight of botter, at the charge of the town, to 
give to the aforesaid special friend." We find also frequent 
charges against the town for venison and for salmon that 
was sent to Portsmouth, the seat of government at that 
time. 

In the town accounts, as early as 1727, is this item : " To 
John Barr, for wine when flie Governor was here, £0, 15, 6." 
Charges of a similar character for wine, venison, mutton, 
do not unfrequently occur, showing the hospitality of the 
town to strangers, and characters of distinction, who visited 
the place. 

In 1729, is the charge : — 
" To John McMurphy, for cloath to Governor Bur- 

nett, £4, 10, 0." 

In 173G, " To John McMurphy, for linen to give to 

the Governor, £6, 10, 0." 

Upon the accession of George the Second, in 1727, Wil- 
liam Burnett, son of the Bishop of Sarum, was appointed 
governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He had 
been popular as a governor of New York and New Jersey. 
He was received in Boston with great pomp, being met there 
by the Lieut.- governor of New Hampshire, and a committee 
of the council and assembly. An address was communicated 
to hini from this town by the Rev. Mr. MacGregor, as ap- 
pears from the following charge in the accounts for 1727. 
" To James Reid, to give to Mr. MacGregor, when 
he went to Boston with our address to Gov. Bur- 
nett, £2, O, 0." 

In 1741, Benning Wentworth succeeded Mr. Belcher as 
governor of New Hampshire. He was received with great 
satisfaction by the people, and was highly regarded by the 
jnhabitants of this town, being the son of tlieir early pcVtron 



CIVIL HISTORY. ' 101 

Lieut.-governor Joliii Wentworth. The foUowing cliarge 
appears in tlieir town accounts for that year : — 
" To Robert Cochran, for going to the Bank, to con- 
gratulate his Excellencj to the Province with 
ye Rev. Wm. Davidson, .... £3, 4, O," 
But while the bold and hardy sons of the older times were 
thus rapidlj forming settlements throughout New England, 
and the wilderness and solitaiy place was made glad; 
while the colonies, long harassed and depressed by their wars 
with the Indians, were now increasing in popnlation and 
strength, and everything indicated prosperity, their bright 
visions of peace and security in the enjoyment of their posses- 
sions, and the fruit of their labors, were suddenly overcast. 

The intention of the British ministry to quarter troops in 
America, and tax the people, without their consent, for their 
support, was announced. The colonies at once understood 
the purport of this intelligence : it was to subjugate and make 
them vassals of the British crown. They had expended their 
best blood and treasure in putting the British nation in pos- 
session of a territory of full twice the dimensions of all their 
possessions in Europe, and were they to be requited thus ? 
Wonder not at their determined spirit of resistance ; at their 
resolute, and, in the view of the world, rash purpose " to bur- 
ish their arms anew, and gird them on single-handed against 
the most powerful nation of the world, rather than resign to 
her oppressive grasp their rights and their liberties." 

Twelve years passed away in strifes and melancholy fore- 
bodings. Every day the storm gafchered blackness, and now 
the time drew near for it to burst upon these infant colonies. 
Among the most decided in resistance to the oppressive acts 
of British domination, were the descendants of those men who 
resisted, unto blood, against thé encroachment upon their civil 
and religious rights in the mother-country. This was particu- 
larly the case with the Presbyterian colonists. Not only the 
spirit of civil and religious fre.edom, nurtured and strength- 

9* 



102 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

ened by the persecutions endured for conscience' sake in Ire- 
land, but the form of tlieir church polity served to prepare 
them to espouse, and steadily to maintain, the cause of Amer- 
ican Independence. 

In confirmation of this statement, the following testimony, 
from writers of known and acknowledged ability, may be 
adduced. 

Mr. Reed of Philadelphia, himself an Episcopalian, re- 
marks : " The part taken by the Presbyterians in the contest 
with the mother-country, was indeed, at the time, often made 
a ground of reproach, and the connection between their 
efforts for the security of religious liberty and opposition to 
the oppressive raeasures of Parliament, was then distinctly 
seen. A Preshylerian loyalist was a thing unheard of." 

Says Dr. Elliot, speaking of the Revolution, "The Presby- 
terians, of every class, were ever foremost in achieving the 
liberties of the United States. And theydiave been all along 
the leading supporters of the constitution, law, and good order. 
They have been thepioneersof learning and sound knowledge, 
from its higliest to its lowest grade, and are now its principal 
supporters." 

" And af ter the conflict was over," says a writer on the 
subject, " and the sages of America came to settle the forms 
of our government, they did but copy into every constitution 
the simple clements of representative republicanism, as found 
in the Presbyterian system. It is matter of history tliat can- 
not be denied, that Presbyterianism, as found in the Bible, 
and in the standards of ihe several Presbyterian churches, 
gave character to our ^yqq institutions." 

Nor must it be forgotten that the Pilgrim Fathers, after 
witnessing the sad eifects of simple independency in their 
own land, had been nurscd in the bosom and drank of the 
spirit of Presbyterian Holland and Geneva, before they 
reached the rock of Plymouth, and, from the very first, their 
institutions partook of the Presbyterian form. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 103 

We have the authority also of the late Chief Justice Tilgh- 
man, for statmg that the framers of the Constitution of the 
United States were, through the agency of Dr. Witherspoon, 
who was one of them, much indebted to the standards of the 
Presbyterian church in Scotland, in modelling that adniira- 
ble instrument under which we have enjoyed, during three- 
fourths of a century, unparalleled national prosperity. 

And still further, the Hon. W. C. Preston, of South Caro- 
liija, has made the following declaration : " Certainly, it is the 
most remarkable and singular coincidence, that the constitu- 
tion of the Presbyterian church should bear such a close and 
striking resemblance to the political constitution of our coun- 
try, ïhis may be regarded as an earnest of. our union. We 
fondly regard our federal constitution as the purest specimen 
of republican government that the world ever saw ; and on 
the safne pure principles of republicanism, as its basis, we 
find established the constitution of this republican church. 
The two may be supposed to be formed after the same 
model." An inquiry into the matter would show that a large 
number of the distinguished veterans of the Revolution were 
members of the Presbyterian church. Without attempting 
to make such an investigation, the following facts may be 
stated : From the State of South Carolina, it appears that 
ten officers of distinction, among whom were generals Mor- 
gan and Pickens, and colonels Campbell, Williams, Shelby, 
and Sumpter, were Presbyterian elders ; all hearing rule in 
the church of Christ, and all hearing arms in defence of our 
liberties. And from New Hampshire, were General Stark, 
and colonels Reed, McCleary, and Gregg, of the Presby- 
terian colony, here planted. The names of braver or better 
officers cannot be found in the annals of our country ; nor 
were tliere braver or better troops in the American army, 
than those furnished by the Presbyterian communities at the 
North, or at the South. 

As in the previous wars in which the colonies were in- 



104* HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

volved, Londonderry afforded her full proportion of troops, 
and borc prompt ly her full share in every conflict, so was 
it in tlie war of the Revoliition. — Not only an ardent love of 
liberty, but a spirit of daring, was a strong feature in the 
cliaracter of its inhabitants. They never shrunk from jieril, 
but were ever prompt to repair to the scène of action. The- 
very first act of open and bold resistance to British author- 
ity and arms, was exhibited by a small party of undaunted 
men of this town, although the fact never received public 
notice. The writer had it from an aged veteran who was 
prominent in the adventure. 

While the British were quartered in Boston, and before 
the encounter at Lexington, four of their soldiers deserted 
and came to Londonderry. Notice was given by a tory who 
resided in the town, of their place of residence. An officer 
with a number of soldiers, was dispatched for their arrest. 
The deserters were discovered, secured, and marched towards 
Boston. No sooner was the fact known in the town, thai} 
a party of young men rallied, and, led by Captain James 
Aiken, a bold and energetic officer, pursued and overtook 
them a few miles north of Haverhill. Captain Aiken, quickly 
passing them, drew up his men in front of the party, and 
commanded them to halt and deliver up their prisoners. 
The British officer, overawed by this unexpected and bold 
resistance, at once complied, and they returned with the lib- 
erated men, who became residents in the town, no further 
attempts being made for their arrest. 

When the news came that General Gage was marching 
troops from Boston into the interior, New Hampshire at once 
took up arms and hastened to the scène of action. Twelve 
hundred of her sons instantly repaired to Charlestown and 
Cambridge. Among these was a large company from Lon- 
donderry, mider the command of brave and experienced 
officers. The tidings had no sooner reached the town, that 
the conflict had actually commenced, than the whole com- 



CIVIL HISTORY. 105 

munity were seizecl witli a warlike frenzy. A number of 
men, dropping instantly their implements of liusbandry, 
hastened from one section of the town to the other, to spread 
the news ; and in a few hours, all who could bear arms were 
assembled on the Comnion, at the meeting-house. There a 
few brief and patriotic appeals were made, in reference to 
the impending struggle, and the sacrifices of life and treasure 
whicli would be required, to defend and preserve those privi- 
leges, for the sake of which many of them, with their fathers, 
had come to this country. 

As a community they needed, on such an occasion, no 
incitement to duty. They were prepared to act. From the 
two companies of militia in town, a large company of volun- 
teers was at once formed ; and, being allowed to select from 
the officers of the two companies, those under whom they 
would march to the conflict, they chose George Reed, captain, 
Abraham Reed, lieutenant, and James Anderson, eusign. 
They started instantly, on being organized ; their provisions, 
ammunition, and whatever was necessary for their encamp- 
ment and future wants, being afterwards forwarded by 
express. 

On the organization of the troops that had assembled at 
Cambridge, Gapt. Reed received the commission of colonel. 
He served during the whole of the war, was in most of the 
distinguished battles, and received repeated tokens of appro- 
bation, for his valor and military skill, from his commander- 
in-chief. Confidential Communications from Washington, in 
his own handwriting, are now in the possession of his de- 
scendants. 

The convention which met at Exeter, April 25, 1775, a 
few days after the fight at Lexington, formed the men from 
New Hampshire, who had joined the army around Boston, 
into two regiments, which were placed under the command 
of Colonel, afterwards General Stark, and Colonel Reed, 
both of Londonderry. Shortly after the battle of Bunker 



106 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

Hill, anotlier regiment from New Hampshire, under the 
command of Colonel Poor, joined the army at Cambridge. 

The two regiments under Stark and Reed were stationed, 
previous to the battle of Bunker Hill, at Medford, and thus 
formed the left wing of the American army. " These 
troops," says one, in his narrative of the battle, " were hardj, 
brave, active, athletic, and indefatigable ; almost every soldier 
equalled William Teil as a marksman, and could aim his 
weapon at an opposer with as keen a relish. Those from 
the frontiers had gained this address against the savages and 
beasts of the forests. The country yet abounded with game, 
and hunting was familiar to all, and the amusement most 
fashionable ■ and universal, throughout New England, was 
trial of skill with the musket." 

On the landing of British troops at Charlestown, the two 
New Hampshire regiments were ordered to join the forces 
on Breed's Hill. A part were detached to throw up a work 
on Bunker Hill, and the remainder, under Stark and Reed, 
joined the Connecticut forces under General Putnam, and 
the regiment of Colonel Prescott, at the rail fence. " This 
was the very point of the British attack, the key of the 
American position. To be stationed there, in the post of 
danger, Avas a high honor, and well did the New Hampshire 
troops merit it, although not a few paid for the distinction 
with tlieir lives." The New Hampshire regiments lost 19 
men killed, and 74 wounded. None of the company from 
this town were killed. 

To all the actual engagements on this memorable year, 
the town contributed its fuU proportion of men and mcans, 
as appears from the following minutes from the town records. 

April 23, 1775. " Voted in town meeting, to give our men 
that have goiTie to the Massachusetts government, seven dol- 
lars a month until it be known what our provincial Congress 
will do in that affair ; and that the officers shall have as 
much pay as those in the Bay government." 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



107 



April 29. " Votecl tliat a committee of nine men be chosen 
to inquire into tlie coiiduct of those men that are thouglit not 
to be friends to the country. Capt. Moses Barnett, John 
McKeen, John Aiken, John Gilmore, Capt. John Moor, 
Ensign James McGregore, George Duncan, Jr., Capt. Rob- 
ert Moor, and John Bell, were this committee. Voted that 
the aforesaid committee have no pay." At this meeting, 
« Voted that twenty more men shall be raised immediately, 
to be ready upon the first emergency, as minute-men." 

May 22. " Voted that twenty more men be enlisted in 
Capt. James Aiken's company, as minute-men." 

July, 1775. « Voted, that six more be added to the com- 
mittee of inspection, viz., Kobert McMurphy, Lieut. John 
Pinkerton, John Nesmith, Capt. William Alison, James 
Ramsey, and Peter Patterson." 

Though there were but few tories in the town, yet the 
appointment of so large and respectable a committee, shows 
the deep interest and close vigilance with which they 
guarded the sacred cause of freedom. Col. Stephen Holland, 
a gentleman of respectable family in Ireland, had some years 
before emigrated, when a yonng man, to America, and settled 
in this town. He here married into a family whose connec- 
tions were rather numerous. He was a gentleman of educa- 
tion, easy address, and of influence. He had been represen- 
tative of the town, and intrusted with the management of its 
interests. But holding, as he did at the commencement of 
the Revolution, offices both civil and military, under the 
crown, he was early suspected of inchning to the cause of 
royalty, and of not being truly friendly to the movements of 
the colonists. Knowing the deep and strong feehng of the 
town on the subject, he took measures to allay their jealous- 
ies. At a town meeting called for the purpose, he presented 
a strong disclaimer in reference to the reports then in circu- 
lation, as to his attachment to the British cause. The town, 
by a YOte, expressed their satisfaction, and he was invested 



108 • HISTORY OF LONDONDEKRT. 

anew witli certain offices of trust. But events not long after 
transpired, wliicli induced him to joiii the Britisli at Boston. 
He left a valuable cstate, situated near the first meeting-house, 
which was confiscated and sold. He returned, first to Eng- 
land, and from tlience to Ireland, where he died, soon after 
tlie dcclaration of peaee. No other loyalist of any influence 
was found in the place. 

The professional and influential men of the town were 
unitedly and ardently engaged in supporting the struggle for 
independence ; and tliey were sustained in all their proposed 
measures bj the almost unanimous voice of their fellow- 
citizens. 

April 23, 1775. The town " Voted to send a delegate to 
represent us in the Provincial Congress, which is to meet at 
Watertown on the 31st of May." "Voted, that Col. Matthew 
Thorton is the man to be sent." At an adjourned meeting, 
James McMurphy, Esq. was also appointed to act with him 
in behalf of the town. 

In 'Nov. 177G, in consequence of the great depreciation of 
paper mone} , the exorbitant prices demanded by spcculators 
who had forestalled the markets, and the consequent dis- 
couragement to the exertions of those who were laboring to 
sustain the heavy pubhc burdens, a meeting was held at 
Dracut, to petition Congress, and the State legislatures, upon 
the subject ; and to devise sucli other measures as might be 
necessary for the protection of the people. A large number 
of delegates were present. 

Londonderry was represented by Deacon Samuel Fisher. 
The convention met Nov. 26, 1776, at the house of Major 
Joseph Varnum, and, after passing a number of resolves, 
prepared a petition to the gencral courts of Massachusetts 
and New liampshire, that the resolves of the Continental 
Congress, respecting the prices of articles of necessary 
consumption, might be enforced more strictly. 

The three regiments which had been raised in New 



CIVIL mSTORY. 109 

Hampshire, amounting to two tlioiisand men, which were 
placed under the commaiid of colonels Stark, Reid, and Hale, 
were, in 177G, sent to New York, to join the army under Gen. 
SuUivan, for the invasion of Canada. They proceeded up 
the Hudson, and down the lakes to Canada, but were obliged 
to retreat to Ticonderoga. They suffered severely, and lost 
one third of their number by sickness and exposure. 

Deo. 17, 1776. "It was voted that, at the desh-e of our 
delegates chosen to represent us in the Assembly of this 
State, a committee be chosen to give them instruction from 
time to time at this calamitous day, that they may know how 
to act the minds of their constituents, as well as their own. 
Tiie following were this committee : John Moor, Robert Moor, 
John Aiken, Thomas Taggart, John Nesmith, John McKeen, 
John Gilmore, Robert McMurphy, Peter Patterson, Samuel 
Morrison, and Capt. William Duncan." 

The resolutions adopted by the Assembly of New Hamp- 
shire against the proceedings of the British Parliament, and 
the proposals for a colonial Congress at New York, were all 
approved by the freemen of this town. 

" Voted, in town meeting, that the remainder of the stock 
of powder shall be divided out to every one that hath not 
already received of the same, as far as it will go, provided» 
he produces a gun of his own, in good order, and is willing to 
go against the enemy, and promises not to waste any of the 
powder only in self-defence ; and provided, also, that he 
shows twenty buUets to suit his gun, and six good flints." 

" March, 1777. Voted to raise £18 bounty for each man 
that is now wanting to make up our complement of men." 
In April following, £12 was added, "so as to make thirtj 
pounds bounty for each continental soldier who enlists for 
three years." 

In January, 1778, " It was voted, that the selectmen make 
provision for the families of the soldiers belonging to this 

10 . 



110 niSTORY OF LONDONDEURT. 

town, who are engaged in the Continental army, agreeable to 
an act of oiir General Court tbr tliat purpose." 

1778. The thirteen articles of the confederation proposed 
by Congress, were referred by this town to a committee, of 
which Matthew Thornton was chairman, to report thereon. 
Their report, containing certain strictures on these articles, 
was adopted by the town, and liumbly recommended to the 
consideration of the Honorable Congress. In 1778, Col. 
Matthew Thornton and John Bell, Esq., were appointed to 
attend the convention at Concord, for framing and adopting 
a form of government. 

These extracts are sufficiënt to testify to the zeal and 
promptness with w^hich the town met the calls of that trying 
period, and the efficiency with which they sustained the cause 
of American independence. During the entire struggle of 
eight years, not only did this town furnish her full proportion 
of regular troops, but the repeated emergencies which called 
for special aid, were here met with readiness. 

From a return of the number of the inhabitants in the 
several towns of New Hampshire, with the number of sol- 
diers, firearms, ammunition, etc. taken by order of the con- 
vention, during the war, it appears that in this town there 
*were four hundred and four males, from the age of sixteen 
to fifty, and of these, sixty-six were in the army ; a larger 
number than from any other town in the county. Pórts- 
mouth sent but fifty men. According to the returns thus 
made, but one town in the State affiarded more soldiers 
than Londonderry ; that town was Amherst, which sent 
eighty-one. It appears from the army-rolls, in the office 
of the Secretary of State, that Londonderry paid for bounties 
a larger sum than any other town, and it is believed that, 
including volunteers and recruits for the continental line, this 
town furnished the greatest number of soldiers. Nor 
should it be forgotten, that the victory at Bennington, which 
arrested the progress of the British arms under Burgoyne, 



CIVIL HISTORY. 111 

and turned the tide of war, Avas achieved by her gallant son, 
Stark, snstained bj New Hampshire and Yermont troops. 
In this famous battle were also Col. William Gregg, Capt. 
V Daniel^ejnolds, and lieutenants McClary and Adam Taylor, 
with a select band of soldiers from Londonderry. Lieutenant 
McClary was slain in the action. He was a brave and active 
ofRcer; a man of piety and of patriotism. The Sabbath 
before the engagement, as lie passed through the tents of 
the soldiers composing his company, he remarked, " Boys, 
remember this is the Lord's day." He was foremost among 
the assailants of a redoubt which the enemy had thrown up, 
and while leading on his men to the attack, he was shot down 
by a musket-ball. The Bible which he had carried with 
him to the camp, and from which he had that morning re- 
ceived divine encouragement, and also the ball which pierced 
him, have been preserved as sacred relies, by his relatives. 
It is a most reraarkable fact, that Lieut. McClary was the 
only man from Londonderry who was slain in battle during the 
war, especially considering the number in constant service, and 
engaged in many of the most sanguinary encounters. A 
number, however, died in consequence of sickness during the 
campaigns in which they were engaged. 

In 1778, a petition was presented to the town by thirty-six 
of lts inhabitants, dwelling in that j^art called Derry Claim, 
at lts south-west corner, that they be separated from Lon- 
donderry, and annexed to the town of Nottingham-West, 
which was granted. March 6, 1778, a small tract of territory 
was, by act of the legislature, taken from the south-west 
part of the town, and annexed to the town of Nottingham- 
West, now Iludson. 

In 1779, the selectmen were empowered, by the vote of 
the town, to provide a workhouse, and to furnish employment 
to such persons in said town as are not willing to work, 
such workhouse to be regulated as other workhouses in 
this State. 



112 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

At a town meeting July 20, 1779, a letter from the select- 
men of Portsmoutli was submitted, announeing the measures 
adopted by said town for restonng the credit of the currency ; 
whereupon the following patriotic resolutions were unani- 
mously adof)ted, namely : — 

" 1. That we will cheerfully coneur Avith oiir brethren in 
the seaports in accomjjlishing the salutary purposes of Con- 
gress, communicated in their late jiidicioiis and spirited 
address, for appreciating the Continental currency. 

" 2. That we will sell none of the necessaries of life, linen 
cloth, or other manufactures, higlier than they were sold the 
first day of May last ; and that we will continue to reduce 
our prices monthly, not doubting but other towns in the 
country will adopt the like salutary measures. 

" o. That we consider as enemies to our country, all per- 
sons who shall buy gold or silver, or sliall demand hard 
money, in whole or in part, for any article they may have for 
sale, and that we will do everything in our power to prevent 
8uch pernicious practices, as they have an immediate ten- 
dency to ruin our paper currency. And whereas the traders 
in this town sell West India goods cheaper than they are 
now sold in Portsmouth, resolved, 

" 4. That they continue to lower their prices as those in 
seaports do. 

" o. That we will instruct our representatives to use their 
influence to obtain a law for the punishment of sharpers, and 
hawkers, and oppressors, etc. 

" G. Resolved, that a committee bc ai^j)ointed to take cog- 
nizance of any persons who shall, by any means whatsoever, 
evade and defeat the design of these resolves, and to treat 
them as enemies to our country ; and that said committee 
offer ?aid resolves to every man in said town for signing. 
And voted, that the above resolves be printed in the Wor- 
cester newspaper." 

The following October, the town appointed a committee to 



CIVIL HISTORY. 113 

iix the prices of sundrj articles of commerce, agreeably to 
the recommendation of the State convention. 

In forming a State constitution, after our independence 
had been achieved, and the British yoke thrown off, this 
town, by its" delegates, took an active and influential part. 
The present constitution with its bill of rights, was, on being 
submitted to the town for consideration, at first referred to a 
large and judicious committee for careful examination. After 
hearing their report, it was, by a large majority, adopted, and 
has received their steadfast support to the present time. In 
every instance, when called upon to express their' opinion, 
they have decided not to revise the constitution, lest instead 
of amending they should mar that excellent instrument, to 
which they were indebted for that security and prosperity 
which they had so long enjoyed. 

After the close of the war, a question arose whether the 
tories, who had fled from the country and given their aid to 
Britain, should be allowed to return. The feeling against 
them was deep and bitter, and the popular current was 
strong in opposition to their being tolerated in the country. 
The subject was warmly discugsed in the meetings of the 
towns and the assemblies of the State. 

That the feeling of hostility towards those who had de- 
serted their country, and turned against her in the hour of 
conflict and peril, was peculiarly strong and determined in 
Londonderry, appears from the following record. It is not 
surprising, considering the constitutional warmth and ardor 
of their temperament, that they did exhibit some feeling on 
this subject. . 

On being apprized that, on the adoption of the articles of 
peace, a clause was inserted at the request of the British 
plenipotentiaries, that Congress recommend that the several 
State* make some provision for the return of the loyalists 
and refugees, a town meeting was immediately called, " to 
see if the town will take some effectual measures to prevent 

10* 



114 HISTORY OF LONDOXDERRY. 

those men who have been the cause of so mnch clesolation 
and blootlshed in the land, to return and dweil aniong us, and 
enjoy the blessings of peace and the sweets of liberty." 

At the meeting thus called, May 29, 1783, a vote was 
passed, with great unanimity, " To instruct their representa- 
tives to use the utmost of their power in the General Court, 
that Ihe refiigees have no liberty to come back to this State." 

The following is 'a copy of the instructions which were 
drawn up and adopted by the town, and addressed to " Col. 
Daniel Reynolds and Mr. Arehibald McMurphy, representa- 
tives for the town of Londonderry for the present year." 

" Gentlemen : Whereas, by an article in the preliminaries 
for peace between the United States of America and Great 
Britain, it is to be recommended by Congress to the several 
States to make some provision for the return of the royalists 
or refugees ; and we conceive that every State in the Union 
are to act thereon as they think best, and that nothing 
therein is binding on the part of the State : and as it is our 
undoubted right, at all times, to instruct our representatives ; 
we do now solemnly, in town meeting, instruct you to use 
your influence in the General Court to prevent the return of 
all or any of the miscreant tories, who have gone from this 
State to the enemy ; as the tories have been the principal 
cause of this long and bloody war. They have murdered 
our brethrcn in cold blood ; they have burnt our towns, 
robbed and plundered our citizens, ravished our daughters, 
and been guilty of every sort of rapine and carnage, that can 
be thought of; and by their lies, continually sent across the 
Atlantic Ocean, the war spun out to so great a length. We 
expect tliat you will use your best endeavours, that nothing 
may ever be done for those infernal wretches, by this State, 
further than to j^rovide a gallows, halter, and hangmfhi, for 
eveiy one that dare to sliew their vile countenances amongst 
us." " Attest, William Anderson, Town Clerk. 

"May 29, 1783." 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



115 



The indignation here expressed can be justified only on 
the ground of their ardent and devoted attachment to the 
cause of freedom, and the sufFering which they had endured 
in its defence. 

In 1783, it was voted, that the town meetmgs, which, from 
the settlement of the town, had been held at the First Parish 
meeting-house, should be held every third year at the West 
Parish meeting-house. 

In 1784, the foUowing votes were passed in town meeting. 
" 1. That the representatives oppose, by every method in 
their power, the grant of five years' fuU pay to the continental 
officers, as recommended by Congress ; it being unjust and 
very oppressive, and would lay such a burden on us, as 
neither we nor our children could ever get clear of." 

" 2. Voted, that our representatives use their influence 
that there be a revision of the table of fees ; as it appears 
that the attorney's fees should be out down, at least one half. 
They would not then be so fond of business, and people 
would have time to breathe." 

It would appear that, in consequence of the expenses of 
the war, the depreciation of paper money, and the derange- 
ment of business, there was much embarrassment in the 
community, which gave rise to litigation and distraining for 
debt ; and too many of the legal profession were disposed 
to avail themselves of these circumstances, to increase their 
gains at the expense of the suffering and oppressed. 

This town having been settled by a colony from Ireland, 
and its inhabitants distinguished for their attention and hos- 
pitality to strangers, it became, more than most places, the 
resort, noC only of emigrants from the nortli of Ireland, but 
of vagrants and foreigners from otlier countries ; many of 
wliom, having belonged to tlie British army, remained in 
the States, after the Revolution. The principles and habits 
of these persons were such, as not only to render their sup- 
port burdensome, but their residence an injury to the oom- 



116 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

munitj. It became necessaiy for the town to take some 
action to prevent the evil. It was, therefore, in 1786, voted, 
" That any person within this town, who shall entertain any 
stranger, stroller, or other vagrant person, for the space of 
five days, in his or her house, without giving due notice to 
one of the selectmen, of the name of the person, and from 
whence they came, shall forfeit and pay for the use of the 
town thirty-nine shillings, for each and every offence, to be 
recovcred by an action of debt, before any or either of the 
justices of the peace within the county of Rockingham." 

In 1786, the State of New Hampshire was considerably 
agitated in regard to the issuing of paper money, which 
should -be receivable as a tender in payment of State taxes, 
and fees, and salaries of public officers. The desire for such 
money arose from the pressure of taxation, which was 
severely feit in consequence of the debt accumulated during 
the revolutionary war, and the great deficiency of the circu- 
lating medium. To meet this demand, a bill, authorizing 
such an emission of j)aper money, to the amount of fifty 
thousand pounds, to be lent at four per cent., on the security 
of real estate, and receivable as a tender in payment of taxes 
and debts, was introduced into the legislature, copies of 
which were sent to the several towns, and the opinions of the 
voters were to be expressed in open town meeting. In this 
town, the vote was "/or the emission of such paper." But, 
happily for the State, a majority of the voters disapproved 
of the bill, perceiving that, as such jiaper must depreciate, in 
proportion to the freedom with which it should be issued, 
the remedy would ultimately prove a greater evil than the 
disease. • 

As the clamor for paper money daily grew louder, and the 
number of the disaffected in the State increased, they at length, 
after having held conventions in the several counties, adopted 
the mistaken and unjustifiable plan of having recourse to 
armed intervention, to obtain redress of grievances. Accord- 



CIYIL HISTORY. ^^l 



ingly, on the morning of the 20th of September, 1786, about 
two hundred men assembled at Kingston. A part were pro- 
vided with firearms, and the rest with swords and clubs. In 
this company were several individuals from Londonderry, of 
sober and respectable character, Avho, not understanding the 
real nature of the evils of which they comphüned, nor theh' 
proper remedies, under the influence of excited feeling, had 
joined the insurgents. Having organized themselves, and 
chosen their leaders, tliey proceeded to Exeter, where the 
leo-islature was in session. They at first addressed a com- 
munication to the legisLature, demanding an answer to the 
petitions, which had been previously presented. The House 
of Representatives were disposed to confer with them on the 
subject, and appointed a committee for the purpose. Happily, 
however, for the honor ^nd peace of the State, General Sul- 
livan, who was then president, declared himself opposed to 
all negotiation with them, on the ground that an application 
ouo-ht never to be complied with, when thus enforced by 
violence ; and assured the insurgents that no consideration 
of personal hazard would render the Assembly unmindful 
of its public duty. They immediately surrounded the building 
in which the legislature was convened, placed sentinels 
at the doors, and threatened the members that they would 
not be permitted to retire until their demands sliould be 
granted. When the president aftempted to retire, at the 
usual hour of adjournment, he was at once resisted and threat- 
ened with violence. With great coolness and decision, he 
endeavored to convince them of the foUy and peril of the 
course which they were pursuing, but without effect. Just 
at that time, a drum was heard, and an alarm was given, 
that a body of artillery was approaching, when they precipi- 
tately retired for the night. In the mean time, the president 
was authorized by the legislature to resort to military force, 
to suppress the insurrection. His orders were issued with 
Bucb promptness, that, by morning, several companies from 



118 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

• 

the neigliboring towns had arrived. These were placed by 
the president uiider the command of General Reid, from 
this town, who was then at Exeter, and had served with 
him as colonel during the revolutionary war. They were 
ordered to march against the insurgents, who had retired a 
little out of the village. As the military came up the insur- 
gent leaders gave orders to their followers to fire, but for- 
tunately they were not obeyed. They immediately attempted 
to flee. About forty were taken and secured, while the rest 
made their escape. The prisoners, after an examination 
before the president and council, were, on their profession 
of sincere repentance, discharged, and the insurrection was 
thus effectually suppressed, without the loss of life and with- 
out any serious evil. 

Although Londonderry had voted" in favor of a paper ciir- 
rency, yet it evinced its love of order and good government, 
by condemning the conduct of its citizens, who took part in 
the insurrection. Those of them who sustaincd a relation to 
either of the churches in town, were required to make a 
public acknowlédgment of the error into which they had 
been drawn. 

In 1790, it was decided " that the annual town meetings 
should be henceforth held alternately at the East and West 
parish meeting-houses, and that the Town Clerk be chosen 
in the parish where said ifieetings are held." 

In 1792, the town being entitled to two rejiresentatives, it 
was voted, that one should be chosen from each j^arish. This 
agreement, as well as that respecting the place of meeting, 
was strictly and harmoniously observed for nearly forty 
years, until the division of the town. 

In 1792, a committee was appointed by the town to pro- 
cure land for a graveyard in the West Farisli. A lot was 
accordingly purchased for that purpose, and it is now the 
principal burying-ground in Londonderry. In that yard 
repose the remains of the Rev. Messrs. Morrison and Hayes, 



CIVIL HISTORY. 119 

two of the pastors of that parish. The Rev. Mr. MacGregor, 
their first pastor, was interred by the side of his father, the 
Rev. James MacGregor, in the old burjing-ground, in the 
East Parish. 

From the termination of the war in 1783, which secured 
to us freedom and independence, no events of special inter- 
est, have marked the history of Londonderry. 

For nearly a century from its settlement, there was no 
collection of dwellings in any part of the town, which could 
with propriety be called a village. The principal employ- 
ment of the inhabitants being agricuUure, they were sepa- 
rated at the usual distance of farm-houses, with here and 
there a mechanic's shop. 

In 1806, the turnpike from Concord, N. H., was made, 
and passing through Londonderry, gave rise to the Loiver 
Village, as it is now called. This spot being central to the 
town, situated between the two parish meeting-hou. ;s, and 
favored with some water-privileges, soon became a j)lace of 
very considerable business, and was in some degree a centre 
of trafRc for the neighboring towns. Although the place 
now termed the Upfer Village, wliere the first meeting-house 
was erected, is peculiarly pleasant, by reason of its elevation 
and dehghtful scenery, but few buildings were erected there, 
from the planting of the colony, until 1812. The parsonage, 
a tavern, and two or three farm-houses, were the only build- 
ings in the immediate vicinity of the meeting-house. 

In 1814, a road, beginning about eighty rods east of the 
meeting-house, and leading to the Prentice House, was opened, 
chiefly through the agency of Alanson Tucker, Esq., who 
had, a few years before, removed into the town from Boston. 
This road afforded some house-lots, on one of which he built 
his mansion, and encouraged the erection of others. The 
growth of the village was subsequently promoted by the 
establishment of the Adams Female Academy. The origin 
of this institution, and also that of the Pinkerton Academy, 



120 IIISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

may be traced to the establisliment of a classical Iligli School, 
in the upper village, hy a number of gentlemen, as early as 
1793. In order that the youth in the town and its vicinity 
might obtain a more thorough education than the common 
schools could afford, a few citizens associated for the purpose, 
and erected on the Common, near the East meeting-house, a 
commodious building, and engaged educated gentlemen as 
teachers. Their first teacher was Mr. Z. S. Moor, afterwards 
professor at Dartmouth, and subsequently president of Wil- 
liams and Amherst colleges. He was succeeded by several 
others, until Mr. Samuel Burnham, a graduate of Dartmouth 
college, took charge of the school, who continued his connection 
with it more than twenty years ; and to his labors and perse- 
verance, in sustaining the school on his own responsibility, 
after the proprietors had withdrawn their individual contri- 
butions and support, is, to some extent, the present incorpo- 
rated male^academy indebted for its funds and even its 
existence; as it was by a strong personal regard to Mr. 
Burnham, and a desire to sustain and encourage him, that 
the principal donor of that institution was at first influenced, 
in making his liberal bequests. Mr. Burnliam was distin- 
guished for his faithfulness as a teacher, his mild and persua- 
sive government, the great amiableness of his manners, and 
his devoted piety. He was for many years a most exem- 
plary Christian, and a useful otïicer in the church. He died, 
Nov. 1, 1834, at the age of sixty-seven years. 

The building in which the High School had been kept for 
about thirty years being out of repair, arrangements were 
made, in 1814, to erect by subscription a larger and more 
commodious one, for the accommodation of the pupils and the 
encouragement of Mr. Burnham, who had struiii;o:led for some 
years to sustain the school. During the process of the erec- 
tion and completion of the building, it was proposed, by those 
interested in it, to j)etition the legislature for an act of 
incorporation, and at the same time it was suggcsted to 



CIVIL HISTORY. 121 

Major John Pinkerton, wlio had subscribed liberally towards 
the erection of the building, that a fund, to insure the con- 
tinuance* of the school, and to extend lts means of usefulness, 
would be very desirable ; and that if he should see fit to 
make a donation for that purpose, the petitioners would 
request to have it incorporated in his name, as the Pinker- 
ton Academj, in Londonderry. The proposition was favor- 
ably received, and he proposed, at first, to bestow five thousand 
dollars. The petition for an act of incorporation, designated 
the site of the former building as the place where the acad- 
emy should be located ; but the bill accompanying it, thi'ough 
an oversight, did not contain this provision. While the bill 
was passing the several readings in the legislature, an 
addition of another trustee to the number proposed by the 
petitioners was made, at the suggestion of the representative 
from this town, to whom the business of obtaining the act 
was intrusted. By this means a majority was secured in the 
board, who desired a different location of the academy from 
that which had been decided upon by the petitioners, and 
where a building had been by them actually erected and fin- 
ished. The Pinkerton Academy was consequently located 
where it now is, more than a mile west of the spot where the 

* E.ev. Mr. Parker often remarked that, some time previous to the 
foundation of the Pinkerton Academy, he visited Major Pinkerton for the 
purpose of obtaining a subscription in aid of the school then in opera- 
tion. In the course of their conversation, he remarked to Major Pin- 
kerton, that he hoped at some time they might have a permanent school, 
the one at that time conducted by Mr. Burnham being without funds, 
and liable to be suspended, whenever the teacher should find it unprofit- 
able. The next time they met, Major Pinkerton said to Mr. Parker : " I 
have been thinking a great deal about that word per-man -ent (giving it 
the Scotch pronunciation), and your suggestion seems to me very 
important." There can be little doubt that that word, dropped almoat 
by accident, first suggested to Major Pinkerton the idea of giving a por- 
tion of his property to endow a permanent High School in the town, and 
was, in fact, the origin of the Pinkerton Academy. — Editor. 

11 



122 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

public school had been sustahied. The change was produc- 
tive, at first, of excited feelings in the community, but the 
result has perhaps been favorable to the interest of the town, ' 
as it gave rise to a female school in the Upper Village, which 
was subsequently incorporated and endowed. 

At first, two departments existed in the Pinkerton Acad- 
emy,* male and female. After a few years, the trustees 
judged it expediënt to separate these departments, and con- 
fine the instruction in the Pinkerton Academy to males. A 
female seminary was in consequence opened in the building 
originally erected for an academy. In 1823, Mr. Jacob 
Adams, a gentleman without a family, deceased. He be- 
queathed about four thousand dollars of his property to endow 

* The Pinkerton Academy was incorporated June, 1814. The trustees 
appointed by the charter were, Isaac Thom,*M. D., Dea. James Pinker- 
ton, Rev. Edward L. Parker, John Porter, Esq., Rev. William Morrison, 
John Pinkerton, Jr. Esq., John Burnham, Esq., Alanson Tucker, Esq., 
and Robert Bartley, M. D. 

The trustees elected since the charter was obtained, to supply vacan- 
cies in the board as they occurred, are as follows : — 

Justin Edwards, D. D., James Thom, Esq., Asa McFarland, D. D., 
Daniel Dana, D. D., George Earrar, M. D., Hon, William M. Richard- 
son, John H. Church, D. D., William Choate, Esq., Samuel Adams, 
Esq., Thornton Betton, Esq., Rev P. B. Day, Rev. Jonathan Clement, 
Rev. T. G. Brainerd, Samuel H. Taylor, A. M., John M. Pinkerton, 
A.M. 

Mr. Samuel Burnham was the first preceptor; he coramenced his 
services Deo. 1, 1815, and continued until 1818. Mr. Justin B. Adams 
succeeded him, and was preceptor one year. In 1819, Abel F. Hil- 
dreth, A. M., was elected principal, and continued in that office until 
1846. He Avas succeeded by Caleb Emery, A. B., upon whose resigna- 
tion, in 1848, Rev. Elihu T. Rowe, A. B., was elected. Mr. Rowe 
resigned Nov. 1850, and was succeeded by Marshall Henshaw, A. M., 
the present principal. 

The present permanent funds of the institution amountlo $16,185,18, 
of which $13,185,18, were givcn by Major John Pinkerton. The remain- 
ing $3.000 were bestowed by Dea. James Pinkerton, his original donation 
of $1,500, having now doubled. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 123 

a female academy, to be located within one hiindred rods of 
the East Parish meeting-house, in Londondeny. It was 
accordingly incorporated as the Adams Female Academy. 
It was the first incorporated female academy in the State ; 
and among the first in New England in which the course of 
studies was prescribed, and the classes arranged as in our 
collegiate institutions. 

Miss Z. P. Grant, who had been a pupil, and was then an 
assistant, in the seminary of the Rev. Joseph Emerson, was 
placed at the head of this institution. She was aided by 
Miss Mary Lyon, who subsequently became so distinguished, 
as a teacher, in carrying into successful operation, at the 
Mount Holyoke Seminary, the plan of female education 
originally adopted here. 

The Rev. Mr. Emerson's views and plans on this subject 
seem to have been in advance of his times, but his instruc- 
tions contributed largely to give the right direction to the 
minds of these ladies, whose influence upon the community 
has been so extensively and happily feit. " The germ of the 
seminary founded by Miss Lyon, may probably be found," 
says President Hitchcock, in his memoir of that lady, " in a 
remark made by the Rev. Mr. Emerson to Miss Grant, when 
advising her to take charge of the Adams Female Academy. 
' If you can put into operation,' said he, ' a permanent school 
on right principles, you may well afford to give up your life 
whenever you have done it.' It was the hope of realizing 
this thought, that induced that lady to take charge of the 
Adams Academy, where for several years she labored with 
Miss Lyon, to accomplish the object." 

Under the superintendence and instruction of these two 
ladies, the institution here established soon became distin- 
guished. The system of study adopted, though novel and 
thorough, met with very general aj)probation. Young ladies 
from various parts of New England resorted to it. It soon 
contained a hundred pupils, and it continued to rise in char- 



124 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

acter and influence, until circumstances led Miss Grant and 
Miss Lyon to resign their connection with it, and to open a 
school for young ladies at Ipswich, Mass., which they con- 
ducted on the principles here laid down, and which were 
carried more fully into operation at South Hadley. 

They were succeeded by Mr. Charles C. P. Gale, of Exeter, 
a graduate of Yale College. He sustained a high character as 
a teacher, and remained principal of the institution ten years, 
when he was invited to Boston, to take charge of a female 
school in that city. He had but just entered upon the duties 
of this situation, when he was suddenly removed by death, 
March 1, 1838. On the resignation of Mr. Gale, John Kelly, 
Esq., of Atkinson, was appointed principal. He continued 
to have the charge of it three years ; and on his retiring, 
the institution was again, in accordance with its original 
plan, placed under the instruction and government of female 
teachers. Miss Laura W. Dwight took charge of it in 1841, 
and remained its principal three years. It is at present 
under female instruction, and afFords to young ladies advan- 
tages of a thorough education. 

Mr. Adams, in addition to the fund for the establishment 
of a female academy, gave eight hundred dollars to the 
parish, for the purchase of a bell. 

In 1828, the number of inhabitants, the extent of terri- 
tory, the inconvenience of attending the town meetings, 
together with many local and rival interests, which frequent- 
ly agitated the community, induced those residinff in the 
easterly part, to apply to the legislature for a division of the 
town. The petition was granted, and the easterly portion 
was set off as a township and incorporated by the name of 
Derry, the remaining portion retaining the original name 
of Londonderry. Tliere was nearly an equal division of 
territory and of population. The town contained 48,470 
acres. West of the divisional line are 25,870 acres ; east of 
the line, 22,600 ; making the territory of Londonderry 3,270 



# 

CIVIL HISTORT. 125 

acres larger than the town of Deriy. But Avhile the town- 
ship of Londondeny exceeds that of Derry in territory, it 
contains a less population. 

In 1829, a bank, with a capita! of one hundred thousand 
jdollars, was chartered in Derry, by the name of the Derry 
Bank. Alanson Tucker, Esq. was its president, and James 
Thom, Esq., its cashier, from its establishment, until its 
charter expired, in 1849. 

Although the strong traits of character which marked 
the early settlers of this town, their staid attachment to re- 
ligious principle and order, their firm adherence to what 
they believed true and sacred, their generosity and social 
attachments, are still manifest in their descendants, and mark 
the community which they here founded ; yet many causes, 
during a period of more than an hundred years, have tended 
to obliterate in a degree these distinctive traits. While em- 
igrations from Londonderry were taking place from time to 
time, as its population increased, English families from other 
places have removed into the town, preferring, as they left 
the denser settlements on the sea-board, to purchase farms 
already brought mto a state of cultivation, rather than, like 
the more hardy and adventurous sons of these colonists, to 
penetrate and subdue the unbroken wilderness. A few such 
families, at an early period, settled on a pleasant tract, north 
of Beaver Pond, which, from that circumstance, received the 
name of the English Range, which it still retains. 

About the year 1790, the town received a valuable acces- 
sion of settlers from Ipswich, Mass. They were of the true 
Puritan race, and retained all those excellences of character 
that distinguished the pilgrim band, which settled that an- 
cient town. They had been trained up under the ministry 
of Rev. Messrs. Rogers, Frisly, Cleaveland, and Dana, men 
distinguished for learning and piety, and for their attach- 
ment to the doctrines and order of the Puritans. 

Although their national traits of character differed in some 
11* 



126 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

respects from those of the settlers of tliis town, yet they were 
soon blended, each imparting and receiving benefit by the 
union. A degree of cultivation and refinement was imparted 
by these English settlers, which served to soften and improve 
the sterner and more rough features of the Scotch-Irish 
character. 

The first family which came from Ipswich to London- 
derry, was that of John Cross. He was soon foliowed by 
others, as William and James Choate, Joseph and Benjamin 
Proctor, Nathaniel Jewett, Benjamin Caldwell, Joseph Cogs- 
well, Aaron Choate, John Burnham, John Crocker, Eliezer 
Low. They were of the Congregational order, but readily 
united in the Presbyterian form of church govemment 
which had been here observed. Many of them became dis- 
tinguished not only as intelligent and influential citizens, but 
as elRcient members of the church, and their descendants 
are among the most valuable inhabitants of the town. 

Several families, soon after this emigration from Ipswich, 
removed into this town from Newbury, Mass., among which 
were those of David and Edmund Adams, who became 
large landholders, and entered extensively into agricultural 
pursuits. 

Another company from the more southerly part of Massa- 
chusetts removed into Londonderry, and settled in the West 
Parish. Some of these families were of the Baptist denomi- 
nation. They were not disposed to unite with the Presby- 
terian society, as others had done, but, being joined by 
some few of the older inhabitants, they organized and formed 
a Baptist church and society, and in 1829, erected a meeting- 
house in the north-west part of the town, which had been 
usually called Canada. 

Families from different parts have, from time to time, 
removed into this town, and others have left, so that the pro- 
portion of the descendants of the first settlers is at present 
not large. There are, however, some which retain unmixed 



CIVIL HISTORY. 127 

the native Scotch-lrish blood. Of tlie families living in the 
town, there are but few that retain the farms first subdued 
from the original forest, and cultivated by their progenitors 
of the same name. But while a marked change has taken 
place in regard to its inhabitants, it is deserving of grateful 
notice, that most of the accessions which this town has 
received from other commmiities, have been families of sober 
and industrious habits, friendly to good order, and attached 
to religieus institutions, and have consequentlj contributed 
to its prosperity. 

For a number of years after the settlement of this town, 
there were no means of conveyance from place to place. Yehi- 
cles,now in such common use, were then almost unknown ; and 
had there been such, the state of the roads would not have 
admitted of their general use. Those who attended meet- 
ing on the Salïbath, though the distance was in some instances 
great, usually travelled on foot, — mothers often with a young 
child in their arms. At length, as horses became mor^ com- 
mon, the more wealthy part of the inhabitants might be seen 
going to uroeting on horseback, the good-man before, the wife 
on the pillion, behind-n^This, until the close of the last cen- 
tury, was the usual if not only mode of conveyance. In 
this way long journeys would be performed, females not un- 
frequently carrying an infant in their arms. Horses were 
then trained to pace or rack, and not, as now, to trot ; that 
gait being more gentle and easy for the rider. It was not 
till nearly the commencement of the present century, that 
the fii'st chaise was introduced. This was owned by Hon. 
John Prentice. It excited great wonder, and was deemed 
an unjustifiable extravagance. In 1814, the first horse- wagon 
was introduced into the town. It was made and owned by 
Dea. James Gregg. The style, ease, and mode of finish 
of these vehicles, now in such general use, have since been 
greatly improved. 

But although the inhabitants in past days were destitute of 



128 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

these means of conveyance ; although they were not, as now, 
clad in flannels and furs during the winter season, or even 
possessed of an outer garment, now deemed indispensable ; 
and although their house of worship was unprovided with 
stoves, and all the conveniences of ease and comfort which 
it now possesses, yet seldom did they fail of a regular and 
' punctual attendance, in winter as well as summer, on the 
stated worship of the sanctuary. These privations and hard- 
ships they cheerfully sustained, from love to the gospel, and 
a desire to transmit to their descendants a goodly inheritance. 
Let not their simple manners and customs everbe reproached 
or ridiculed by those who are reaping the fruits of their 
industry, frugality, and self-denying piety. 

Much attention has, from the first, been paid to common 
school education in this town. Primary schools have been 
maintained and well regulated in its severaÉ districts, and 
few, if any, of the children and youth have not been taught 
in the rudiments of knowledge. A classical or high school 
was here established, when but few such institutions existed. 
Since which, a male and female academy, both wftl endowed, 
have been incorporated and well sua^ined. 

Many of our youth, availing themselves of the advantages 
of these institutions, have obtained a good academical educa- 
tion, and become teachers in the district schools of this and 
surrounding towns ; while a very considerable number of 
young men have received a collegiate education, and become 
distinguished in professional life. 

Few towns, perhaps, possess more advantages than belong 
to the original township of Londonderry. "VYhether we con- 
sider the scenery it everywhere presents, the strength and 
fertility of its soil, its vicinity to several flourishing cities 
and manufacturing villages, its means of communication 
with them by railroad ; or its institutions of learning, its gen- 
eral order and the ample provision made for the permanent 
support of the Christian ministry, they surely have reason 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 129 

for gratitude, wlio enjoy a dwelling-place possessing so many 
advantages. They have, indeed, a goodly heritage. There 
may be places where larger possessions can be more readily 
acquired, but few, if any, where the means of comfortable 
living, and of intellectual and moral improvement, can be 
more easily obtained, or are more generally enjoy ed. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PkESBYTERIANISM in NEW ENG LAND — EXTRACTS FROM THE OLD 
CHURCH RECORDS — DEATH AND CHARACTER OF REV. J. MAC- 
GREGOR — REV. MR. CLARK, HIS CHARACTER — SETTLEMENT OF 
REV. MR. THOMPSON DESCRIPTION OF THE SACRAMENTAL SER- 
VICE — INDÜCTION OF ELDERS — FORMATION OF THE WEST PAR- 
ISH, AND SETTLEMENT OF REV. D. MACGREGOR — SETTLEMENT 

OF REV. MR. DAVIDSON — REVIVAL — NEW MEETING-HOUSE 

DEATH AND CHARACTER OF REV. D. MACGREGOR — SETTLEMENT 
OF REV. MR. MORRISÖN — DEATH AND CHARACTER OF REV. 3IR. 
DAVIDSON — SETTLE3IENT OF REV. MR. BROWN — DIVISIONS IN 
THE EAST PARISH — DISMISSAL OF MR. BROWN — SETTLEMENT 
OF THE PRESENT PASTOR — ENDOWMENT OF THE TWO PARISHES 
— DEATH AND CHARACTER OP REV. MR. MORRISÖN — DR. DANA 

REV. MR. HATES, HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER — REV. MB. 

ADAMS — REV. MR. BRAINERD — CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY 

REV. MR. DAT — METHODIST SOCIETY — REVIVALS. 

The text from which the Rev. Mr. MacGregor preached, 
when he took the pastoral care of the infant church in Lon- 
donderry, then literally in the wilderness, was from Ezekiel 
37 : 26 : " Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with 
them ; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them : and 
I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanc- 
tuary in- the midst of them forevermore." This promise, as 
apphed to this band of emigrants, has been strikingly ful- 



130 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

filled, in the permanency, enlargement, and prosperity of the 
settlement, then devoutly commenccd. It has been shown 
in a previous chapter, that the leading motive of these colo- 
nists in coming to this country, was the more full and free 
enjoyment of religious privileges. Like most of the New 
England colonists, they sought a home and a place to wor- 
ship God. The emigration, therefore, from Ireland in 1718, 
called the Londonderry emigration, as they mostl}'' came from 
that city, and its vicinity, included four Presbyterian minis- 
ters, viz. MacGregor, Cornwell, Boyd, and Holmes. Of these 
ministers, the settlers of this town made choice of the Rev. 
Mr. MacGregor, as their pastor. He was now in the meri- 
dian and vigor of life. He had received a thorough classical 
and theological education, and sustained for some years the 
pastoral office in Ireland. He was every way qualified to be 
to them a spiritual guide and counsellor. Although, in conse- 
quence of his lamented death, his relation to them continued 
but a few years, yet he was an important blessing to the 
infant settlement, as it respected its civil as well as ecclesi- 
astical concerns. We find from public documents, that he 
was associated with others, and was doubtless the most influ- 
ential, in securing a title to the soil, in obtaining an act of 
incorporation, and in erecting and finishing a house of worship. 
The tradition, in regard to his correspondence with the Mar- 
quis de Yaudreuil, has been already noticed. 

As no presbytery then existed in this part of the country, 
nor any otlier Presbyterian church in New England, there 
could have been no regular installation of Mr. MacGregor, 
over the congregation. It appears from the brief record of the 
transaction, that the people being assembled for public wor- 
ship, the pastor elect, having preached to them from the 
passage above referred to, did, in the presence of God, take 
the people to be his pastoral charge. And they, by a public 
expression of their wishes, received him as their minister. 
We know not the number of members which composed the 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 131 

church at its organization ; but its increase was rapid, as the 
settlement ad vaneed. At a communion season, in 1723, 
there were one hundred and sixty comraunicants. At the 
next spring communion, only four years from the formation 
of the church, there were present two hundred and thirty 
members. 

Being of Scottish descent, and having been educated in 
the Presbyterian faith and discipline, that mode of church 
government was adopted by this company of settlers. The 
church which they established was the first Presbyterian 
church in New England. Others were soon formed by the 
emigrants who accompanied and foliowed them to this land, 
as they settled in different parts of the country. 

The Federal Street Church (then Long Lane) in Boston, 
was originally Presbyterian, and was formed soon after the 
organization of this. Their first pastor was the Rev. Mr. 
.Morehead, from Ireland. He was a man of distinguished 
talents, and eminent for his piety ; but subject to a natural 
temperament so excitable as not unfrequently to lead to rash 
and imprudent acts and expressions, which called forth on 
one occasion, from Mr. MacGregor, his particular friend, 
this reproof: "Mr. Morehead, you have doublé the grace of 
common Christians, but not half enough for yourself." His 
funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. David Mac- 
Gregor, from the text, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom 
is no guile." He was succeeded by Robert Annin, also from 
Ireland, and distinguished as a scholar and a divine. On 
his removal to Philadelphia, Dr. Belknap, of Greenland, the 
historian of New Hampshire, became pastor of that church. 
About this time, its mode of church government was changed 
from the Presbyterian to the Congregational form. Presby- 
terian churches were so multiplied in New England, that, 
as early as 1729, we find in the records of the London- 
derry church session, a notice of a meeting of presbytery in 
Boston ; and that an elder was appointed to attend its ses- 
sion. It may have been formed a few years earlier. 



132 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

The Presbyterian mode of cliurch order, differing from 
the Congregational, which claims independency, supposes 
that the government of the church, as laid down in the New 
Testament, was by presbyteries, that is, by associatioïis of 
ministers and ruling elders, all possessed of equal powers, 
without any superiority among them, either in ofiSee or 
order ; and in this principal feature, it was opposed to Epis- 
coi3acy, which gave so much power to the bishop. 

It was, moreover, deemed more simple and spiritual in its 
mode of worship, conferring upon the people a larger share 
in the affairs of the church. Between Presbyteriani«m and 
Evangelical congregationalism, tliere is little or no düFerence, 
except in the form of government. Every Congregational 
church, as respects ecclesiastical government, is a separate 
and independent body ; while according to the Presbyterian 
mode, there are regular and established judicatories, before 
which all cases of discipline or difficulty can be promptly 
and regularly brought. The lowest is the church session, 
consisting of the minister and the elders of the congregation, 
who are chosen to this office by their brethren. The next 
judicatory is the presbytery, which consists of all the pastors 
within a certain district, and one ruling elder from each 
church, commissioned by his brethren, to represent, in conr 
junction with the minister, the session of that church. From 
the judgment of the presbytery, lies an appeal to the synod, 
which meets once a year, and exercises over the presbyteries 
within its bounds a jurisdiction similar to that whiéh is vested 
in each presbytery over the several church sessions within 
its bounds. 

The synods are composed of the members of the several 
presbyteries within their respective limits. The highest 
authority in the Presbyterian church, is the General Assem- 
bly, which. consists of a certain number of ministers and 
ruling elders, delegated from each presbytery. To this body, 
appeals may be brought from all the other ecclesiastical 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 133 

courts, and in questions purely religious no appeal can be 
had from its decisions. There is thus a most perfect system 
of procedure in all cases of difficulty, verj similar to that in 
civil cases before the courts of law, the tribunals being per- 
manently established, and not called by the parties for the 
occasion. The doctrines of the Presbyterian church have 
ever been Calvinistic, as contained in their confession of 
faith. The early settlers of Londonderry were ardently 
attached to the doctrines and government of this church, 
being those of the church of Scotland, and introduced there 
a century before, by John Knox, the celebrated Scotch 
reformer. Presbyterianism, thus planted by this colony, 
branched out, as churches were formed by emigrations from 
the town, so that at an early period there was not only a 
presbytery constituted in Boston, but subsequently two 
others, composed of churches in Massachusetts, New Hamp- 
shire, and Maine. These presbyteries were at length formed 
into one body, called " The Synod of New England," which 
continued to hold regular annual meetings, usually at Lon- 
donderry, for several years. 

In 1782, some difficulties having arisen, and the number of 
the Synod being considerably reduced, they agreed to dissolve, 
and to form themselves into one presbytery, by the name of 
the Presbytery of Salem. After subsequent divisions and 
changes, there was formed, May, 1794, a union of the asso- 
ciated reformed presbytery of Londonderry, and of the 
eastern presbytery ; the body thus united, was called the 
Presbytery of Londonderry. This title it continues to retain, 
being the only Presbyterian body now in New England, 
embracing twelve churches, two of which are in Massachu- 
setts, the others in New Hampshire ; and about twenty min- 
isters. 

The records of the church in Londonderry, commence 
June 27, 1723. The first church session consisted of Rev. 
James MacGregor, moderator, David Cargil, James Mc- 

12 



134 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

Keen, Samncl Moor, John Cochran, John Barrett, William 
Ayer, James Alexander, James Aclams, Robert Wilson, and 
Robert Givan, elders. James Reed was added in 172G. 

The following extracts from their records may serve as an 
illustration of the vigilance with which these elders watched 
over the flock, of which they were the overseers. The first 
case which engaged their attention was the report that James 
Doake had quarrelled with liis father and beaten him. The 
record states, that " the session came to this conclusion : that 
after a great deal of pains taken, they cannot find it proven 
that James Doake did beat his father, yet the session agreeth 
that James Doake should be rebuked before them, for giving 
his father the lie, and to be exhorted to respect and honor 
his parents in words and actions." 

The next case of discipline was a charge brought by John 
Archibald, against James Moor, for using unjustifiable ex- 
pressions, of a profane character, which Moor denied : yet 
he was exhorted by the session to be watchful and more 
circumspect for the future. 

A trait of character which distinguished this people, was 
a generous sympathy for their friends in circumstances of 
affliction, and a readiness to tender relief. Hence we find, 
that at the early period of 1725, the session ordered two 
public coUections to be taken on the Sabbath. One was to 
aid a Mr. James Clark, residing in Rutland, to ransom 
his son, taken by the Indians; the collection, straitened 
as were their circumstances at the time, amounted to five 
pounds. The other was for the relief of William Moor, who 
had two cows killed by the falling of a tree ; three pounds 
and nineteen shillings were received. It is most evident, 
from these ancient records, that, whatever imperfections 
appeared in the character of the people, they did not suffer 
sin to pass unreproved. Impurity of speech or act ; the cir- 
culation of slanderous reports, dishonesty, or neglect of social 
religious duties, w^ere subjects of prompt and faithful disci- 
pline. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 135 

In 1734, we find the entry of a complaint by Arcliibald 
Stark, against John Morrison, that, having foiind an axe in 
the road, "he did not leave it at the next tavern, as the 
laws of the country doth require ;" and although Morrison ac- 
knowledged the fact, and plead that it was of so small a value 
that it would not qiiit cost to proclaim it, yet he was severely 
censiired by the session, and exhorted to repent of the evil. 

On another occasion, two individuals were arraigned for 
indecent behavior, who plead as an apology that tliey were 
in a state of intoxication at the time. This, so far from being 
considered as any excuse for the acts of which they were 
acciised, was declared by the session an aggravation of their 
sin ; and they were dealt with accordingly. No people were 
more distinguished for sound Christian doctrine and order, 
or for a more strict and inflexible code of morals. 

In 1729, the town experienced a heavy loss in the removal 
of the Rev. Mr. MacGregor, their spiritual guide and father. 
No trial could have been more afflictive to this people. He 
had taken a lively and tender interest in their temporal as 
well as spiritual prosperity, and by his counsels, his influence, 
and his many exertions, contributed much to the formation 
of the character and to the great prosperity of the settlement. 
He lived to see the vine which had been brought from his 
native land into this wilderness, takino; firm root and beo-in- 
ning to entend its tender branches. His name and memory 
were most tenderly cherished by his bereaved flock, and suc- 
ceeding generations ; and the eifects of his labors among them 
were long and widely feit. He possessed a robust constitu- 
tion, and had enjoyed firm and uninterrupted heahh. He 
had never been visited with sickness until seized with that 
which terminated his life. Though at the time but a youth, 
he was among the brave defenders of Londonderry, in Ire- 
land, and discharged from the tower of the cathedral the 
large gun, which announced the approach of the vessels that 
brought them relief. Thus habituated to hardships and self- 



136 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

denial, he was well prepared to share with the compaiiy who 
took possession of tliis spot, the toils, daiigers, and sacrilices 
of ease and comfort, ever attendant upon a new settlemcnt. 
He survived but a few days the attack of fever, with which 
he was seized. He died on Wednesday, March 5, 1729, and 
was intcrred on the Saturday following, with deep and gen- 
eral lamentation. The Rev. Mr. PhilHps, of Andover, Mass., 
preached his funeral sermon, from the words of Zeehariah 
1:5: " Your fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do 
they live forever?" Althoiigh the settlement, before his 
death, had surmoimted its principal difficidties, and so greatly 
increased, that, at the last sacramental occasion on which he 
attended, with his beloved flock, there were present three 
hundred and seventy-five communicants, yet his removal 
was deeply feit and lamented. " He was," as Dr. Belknap 
justly observes, in his Ilistory, " a wise, affectionate, and faith- 
ful guide to his people, botli in civil and religieus matters." 
From traditional remarks, as well as from some few manu- 
scripts of his, which have been preserved, we are led to con- 
sider him a man of distinguished talents, both natnral and 
acquired. He evidently possessed a vigorous and discrim- 
inating mind. He was strictly evangelical in his doctrinal 
views, and peculiarly spiritual and exj^erimental in his 
preaching. During his short but severe sickness, he mani- 
fested a firm, unshaken faith in the Saviour, and a liyely hope 
of his interest in the promises of the gospel. In the imme- 
diate prospect of death, he remarked to those around him, 
that he trusted he had known Christ from the fourteenth 
year of his age, and could cheerfully confide to his hands his 
immortal interests. 

The session, in noticing his removal, on their records, 
speak of " his peaceful and triumphant death, of his victori- 
ously entering into the joy of his Lord." He was fifty-two 
years of age at his death. He left a widow and seven 
childrcn. His personal appearance was commanding ; his 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 137 

stature tall and erect, liis complexion rather dark, and his 
countenance expressive.* 

Soon after the death of Mr. MacGregor, the Re\^ Matthew 
Clark, having received ordiuation in Ireland, came to this 
country and immediately repaired to Londonderry, where 
his countrymen and many of his former acquaintance now 
resided. At the request of the church and congregation, he 
supplied the desk and took the pastorai care of the people, 
although not formally installed as their .pastor. Possessing 
distinguished literary acquirements, he also officiated as an 
instructor in the higher branches of education. Though 
about seventy years of age when he came to this town, yet 
he continued in the vigorous discharge of his duties for more 

* As ilhistrative of the practical customs and manners of the clergy- 
men of those days, and of Mr. MacGregor's prompt and decided char' 
acter, it is related, that during the time of the first harvest after the 
settlement, a party of men, strong in numbers, came up from the neigh- 
boring town of Haverhill, Mass., as it seems had been their custom for 
some years previous, to mow and carry off the grass from the fine natu- 
ra! meadows. This was not unexpected ; but it was supposed that, a 
manly and cxplicit explanation being given, they would at once desist ; 
and at the suggestion of their pastor, Mr. IMacGregor, a committee of four 
or five men went out to meet them. for this purpose. The representa- 
tions of this committee, howcA'er, were treated with derision, which being 
reported, some others went forward, headed by their pastor, who in very 
decided thougli dignified terms, and with some warmth, told them that 
the title of the proprietors of Londonderry to the grass was direct and 
perfect, and ordered them off the ground. The leader of the party 
immediately walked up to Mr. ]MacGregor, and shaking his fist in his 
face, in an angry, threatening tone, exclaimed, alluding to his clerical 
costume, " Nothing saves you, sir, but your black coat." Mr. Mac- 
Gregor instantly replied, " Well, it shan't save you, sir," and throwing 
off his coat, was about to &uit the action to the word, when the party, 
with their boasting leader, beat a retreat. 

It was the custom, at that day, for all " able-bodied men " to go to 
church well armed, in order to be prepared to repel any sudden attack 
from the Indians, and their pastor always raarched into his pulpit with 
his gun well loaded and primed. 

12* 



138 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

than six years. He had served as an ofRcer in the Protest- 
ant army during the civil commotions in Ireland, and was, 
as already stated, active in the defence of Londonderry, 
during the memorable siege which it endured. In one of 
the sallies which were frequently made by the besieged, he 
received a wound, the ball grazing the temple and so affect- 
ing the bone, that it never healed. The sore was concealed 
by a black patch, as his portrait novv shows, and may be 
regarded as an honorable testimonial of his miUtary services. 
After the civil commotions in his native land had subsided, 
he quit the military service, and having qualified himself, 
becarae a preacher of the gospel, laying down the sword of a 
hallowed defence for the purer service of the sons of Aaron. 
He was very eccentric in his manners, possessing it is said, 
a peculiar vein of humor, \Vhich would occasionally appear 
in his more public services.* He was sound in the faith, 

* During the period of the " old Frcnch war," a young, large, athletic, 
and fine-looking British officer, happening, during his furlongh, to be at 
Londonderry, attended church on the Sabbath, and standing about the 
door till after service had commeneed, was^ccosted by an cider, and 
told that " he had better walk in." He did só-Avhile the congregation 
were engaged in prayer, and taking a conspieuous position, stood up. 
as was the general and appropriate custom of those days, during prayer : 
but being, probably, desirous of showing what lie tliought a good speci- 
men of a British ofRcer, in bright scarlet uniform, continued standing 
until the sermon was somewhat advanced. Mr. Clark, on glancing 
around, discovered, much to his annoyance, that the attention of most 
of the congregation, including ncarly all the young ladies, was engrosscd 
by the handsome officer ; whcrcupon lie paused, laid doAVn his sermon, 
and abruptly, with a significant gesture, and in his own emphatic Scotch 
dialect, thus addressed him : " Ye are a braw lad, ye ha'e a braw suit o' 
claithes, and we ha'e a' seen thcm, ye may sit doun." 

It may be hardly necessary to add, that the courage of the soldier, 
which was undoubtedly amply sufficiënt for all ordinary emergencies, 
failcd him here, and he instantly sat down ; whcn Mr. Clark went on 
with his sermon, as though nothing had happcned. 

It is also related of him that in preaching on the confidenceof Peter, 
that he would not deny his Lord, and his subscquent fall, he rcmarked : 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 139 

decided and independent in his seutiments, and fearless in 
defence of what he judged to be correct in doctrine, or in 
practice. In his mode of living lie was singularly temperate. 
He wholly abstained from all kinds of flesh, and never ate 
of anything wbich had possessed animal life. His martial 
spirit, though he had become a minister of the Prince of 
Peace, would not unfrequently be revived. It is among the 
traditions of the people, that, while sitting as moderator of 
the presbytery, the martial music of a training band, recalled 
his youthful fire, and for a while he was incapable of attend- 
ing to the duties of his office. To the repeated calls of the 
members, his reply was, " Nae business while I hear the toot 
o' the drum." He married, as his third wife, the widow of 
the Rev. Mr. MacGregor. He died January 25, 1735, aged 
. seventy-six. His remains, in compliance with his special 
request, were borne to the grave by those who had been his 
fellow-soldiers and fellow-sufFerers in the siege of Derry. 

Previously to the death of Mr. Clark, the people, desirous 
of obtaining a minister from their native land, had made appli- 
cation to the presbytery of Tyrone for a candidate. In 1732, 
Mr. Robert Boyes was appointed by the town their com- 
missioner, who, with the advice and in concurrence with the 
Rev. Mr. McBride of Ballymony, was empowered to invite 
" a suitable, well-qualified, and accredited minister, to take 
charge of them in the Lord, engaging to pay any one who 
should consent ^o come, one hundred and forty pounds annu- 

" Just like Peter, aye mair forrit than wise, ganging swaggering aboot 
wi' a sword at his side ; an' a puir han' he mad' o' it when he cam' to 
the trial, for he only cut ofF a chiels' lug, an' he ought to ha' split 
deun his heed." 

On another occasion also, he is said to have commenced a discourse, 
from Philippians 4 : 13, in the following manner : " ' I can do all thiugs ;' 
ay, can ye Paul 1 I'U bet ye a dollar o' that, (placing a Spanish dollar 
upon the desk,) Stop ! Iets see what else Paul says : ' I can do all things 
through Christ, which strengtheneth me.' Ay, sae can I, Paul, I draw 
my bet," and he thereupon returned the dollar to his pocket. 



140 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

allj, besides the expenses of his voyage, and also to give him, 
as a settlement, one half of a home-lot and a hundred-acre 
out-lot, as it was then termed. These two lots,with the minis- 
terial lot adjoining Beaver Pond, subsequently constituted a 
valuable farm, and was owned and occupied by Kev. Mr. 
Davidson. This was a salarj much larger than is now usu- 
ally received by settled ministers ; and, considering the time 
when it was granted, evinces the zeal and liberality of the 
early settlers in supporting the gospel, and its institutions. 
In those days, as we learn, the colony gave the governor but 
one hundred pounds a year ; and Portsmouth, the capital, 
gave its minister a salary of only one hundred and thirty 
pounds. But this people had been taught the value of the 
gospel, and the free enjöyment of divine ordinances. They 
were forward to honor the Lord with their substance and the 
first fruits of all their increase, — and they realized the fulfil- 
ment of the divine promise, and were blessed, as a commu- 
nity, in their basket and in their store. 

In October, 1733, Mr. Boyes returned from Ireland with 
the Rev. Thomas Thompson, who, having accepted the invita- 
tion given him in behalf of this church and congregation, had 
been ordained as their pastor by the presbytery of Tyrone, and 
was, by that body, amply recommended to this people. On 
his arrival, he was cordially received by them as their minis- 
ter. A number of emigrants accompanied him, who became 
members of his society. His first sermon was from those 
appropriate words of Peter to Cornelius, Acts 10: 29, " There- 
fore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was 
sent for: I ask, therefore, for what intent ye have sent for 
me?" The session, in behalf of the church and society, en- 
tered the following minute on their records in respect to him : 
"The session having seen and approved Mr. Thompson's 
testimonials of not only his trials but ordination to be our 
minister in the Lord, by the presbytery of Tyrone, together 
with a letter from said presbytery, wherein they largely set 
forth the great satisfaction which they had, not only of his trials, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 141 

but also of his Christian life and conversation, all which we 
heartily and clieerfully accept, and recei ve him to be our minis- 
ter in the Lord ; promising, as God shall enable us, to yield all 
due subjection andobediencetohim in the Lord, and to respect 
him as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, for his work's sake." 

Mr. Thompson was twenty-nine years of age when he came 
to this country. He had married, before he left Ireland, a 
Miss Cummings, daughter of an ofïicer of the British navy, 
and a lady of accomplished education. On his settlement 
in this place, he not only received the lands voted him by the 
town, but was aided by the people in the erection of a commo- 
dious house, — the one afterwards occupied by Rev. Mr. 
Davidson, his successor, and not long since taken down. 
The church enjoyed the pastoral labors of Mr. Thompson but 
five years. He died Sept. 22, 1738, leavinga widow and one 
child. Though his ministry was short, it was highly accept- 
able to the people, and attended with the divine blessing, the 
church being very considerably increased during the period 
of his connection with it. 

From the few facts and traditionary notices of him that 
have come down to us, it appears that he was a man of 
promising talents and varied accomplishments, easy, affable, 
and pleasing in his manners, and interesting as a public 
speaker. At his decease, the town, from attachment to his 
family and respect to his memory, and with a liberality highly 
conTmendable, voted to bestow seventy pounds towards the 
education of his infant son. 

In those days, the character of the minister was faithfully 
protected, by the church, against the scandals and malicious 
designs of those who desire to destroy his influence. Defam- 
ers of the ministry were not then countenanced and sustained, 
as they now are, by numbers in almost every community. 
We find that a Mr. John Taggart was arraigned before the 
session for uttering reproachful words respecting Mr. Thomp- 
son, charging him with being false, and not having the truth 
in him. Taggart appeared before the session and acknowl- 



142 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

edged his fault, in expressing himself so rashly and unad- 
visedly as he bad done ; wliicli confession, after lie was 
rebuked and exborted to be more cautious and watchful of 
his words for the future, was read before the congregation. 
There is no class of men more open to the envenomed shafts 
of the defamer, and none, owing to their peculiar situation, 
less able to repel the assaults, than the ministers of the gos- 
pel. It is only by well-doing that they can put to silence the 
reproaches of ungodly men ; but this often requires time. 
It would be well, therefore, if churches, or church sessions, 
would, on certain occasions, as was done in the case referred 
to, throw around their pastor a protecting influence, and 
cause the defamer to feel its power. 

During Mr. Thompson's ministry, the church was very 
considerably increaieed. At a sacramental occasion in 1 734, 
only fifteen years after the settlement of the town, there w^ere 
present, as appears from the church records, seven hundred 
communicants. This number included, as we suppose, many 
from other towns, where settlements had commenced ; and 
those also who, retaining a relation to this churcli, but resid- 
ing elsewhere, returned, on such occasions, to enjoy the 
privilege of communion witli their brethren. These seasons, 
recurring but twice in the year, were regarded by the people 
as important occasions, — something like the assembUngof the 
ancient tribes, on their national festivals. This mode of con- 
ducting the sacramental service, had its origin in the churches 
of Scotland. "At the commcncement of the Reformation, in 
that country, the Lord's supper was administered four times 
in each year. Afterwards, for reasons which we are not able 
to state, that ordhiance came to be administered less fre- 
quently, — in some churches once only in the year, and in 
none more than twice. One consequence of this arrangement 
"was, that, whenever the ordinance was dispensed in each 
church, it was made an ecclesiastical occasion. The pastors 
of three or four neighboring churches left their own pulpits 
on that day, went to the aid of their brother, and took the 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 143 

mass of their congregations with them, to enjoy the privilege 
of communing with their sister church." 

The sacramental service was commonly preceded by 
preaching on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the first of 
which days was observed as a sacramental fast, and observed 
as sucli with great strictness, the families abstaining from 
food and all kinds of worldly labor. Any violation of the day 
by secular concerns, was a disciplinable offence. A complaint 
was, on one occasion, brought against a member of the 
church, for spreading out grain on that day to dry, for which 
he was duly admonished by the session. The Monday 
following the sacrament was a day of thanksgiving. 

" These extra services gave rise to much preaching, which 
rendered the aid of several ministers highly desirable, if not 
necessary. When the Sabbath came, which was the great 
day of the feast, the ministers, ruling elders, and communi- 
cants of several different churches, were all assembled, pre- 
pared to gather round the sacramental tables. In these 
circumstances, the question would arise, how should those 
who were really communicants, in good standing, be distin- 
guished from unworthy intruders, who belonged to no 
church, and were, perhaps, even profligate : but who, from 
unworthy motives, might thrust themselves into the seats of 
worthy communicants, and thus produce disorder and scan- 
dal ? To meet this difficulty, the plan was adopted to depos- 
ite, in the hands of each pastor and his elders, a parcel of 
cheap metallic pieces, stamped wdth the initials of the churcli, 
called " tokens," which they were to dispense to all known 
members of their own church who were in attendance, and 
wished to commune. Thus, although not a quarter part of the 
communicants were personally known to the pastor, or elders 
of the church in which the sacramental service occurred, 
yet these cheap and convenient little certificates of church 
membership, for such they were intended to be, being re- 
ceived by each communicant from the minister and elder of 
his own church, prevented imposition and secured regulaiity 



144 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

and order." Such was the origin of "tokens," which for more 
than a century were used in our Presbyterian churches in 
this country, even many years after the occasion for them 
had passed away. 

The administration of the ordinance on the Sabbath was 
attended with certain ceremonies and services, not generally 
observed at present. A long but narrow table, or rather 
elevated form, was placed in each aisle, with lower ones on 
each side for seats. Before these were filled by communi- 
cants, and before the clements were distributed, the tables 
were barred, or " fenced," as it was termed, by the officiating 
minister. In this exercise, the requisite qualifications for 
acceptable communion were stated, and those sins, secret or 
open, which in the sight of God, and according to his word, 
would debar one from the table of the Lord, detailed at some 
length. This more usually included a brief exposition of the 
decalogue. After this service, occupying from thirty to forty 
minutes, the seats at the tables were first filled by the more . ^^ 
elderly portion of the church. After an address to them, in 
reference to the occasion, the clements were duly conse- 
crated, and passed along the tables by the officiating elders. 
This company being served, retired from the table while a 
hymn was snng, and another company approached and 
took their seats, to whom the clements were imparted in like 
manner, accompanied with an address from the minister. 
There would sometimes be three or four sittings or services 
at the table, before the whole church could bc served. The 
whole was foliowed by a warm and faithful exhortation from 
the pastor, to walk worthy of their high vocation, and 
adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. After 
a short recess, the congregation reassembled, w^hen an appro- 
priate discourse, with the usual devotional exercises, closed 
the public services of the day, which w^ere often protracted 
to the going down of the sun. 

These forms and extra services are now in most of our 
churches in a great degree laid aside. Pews ai'e occupied. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 145 

instead of seats, at the table. The whole church commune 
at the same time. The Saturday and in some cases the 
Mondaj services are omitted, and although the day of fast is 
maintained in most if not all the Presbyterian churches, as a 
season preparatory for the communion ; yet even this is by 
too many professors neglected, or very formally observed. 
It would be well in this case to inquire for the old paths ; 
where is the good way. Such solemn and devout convo- 
cations, such assembling of the people for several consecutive 
days for prayer and praise and preaching, if the practice 
were revived by the churches, would happily serve, it is 
believed, to promote their spirituality, and bring down the 
divine influences in more copious effusions. Such meet- 
ings, in connection with the administration of the Lord's 
supper, are in accordance with the directory for worship, as 
contained in the Confession of Faith, and in many instances 
'have been attended with most signal manifestations of 
the divine presence. Such was the fact in the days of the 
Erskines, and other powerful preachers of the Scottish 
church. Their sacramental seasons were, in most instances, 
times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. There 
was a most remarkable display of divine grace, during such a 
communion season, in 1 630, at the Church of Shotts, a small 
town between Glasgow and Edinburgh, at which nearly five 
hundred are said to have been awakened, most of whom gave 
good evidence of a saving change of heart, in their subse- 
quent lives. , 

Similar instances of the divine manifestations in Scotland, 
and in Ireland, were repeatedly witnessed at these pro- 
tracted meetings of the people of God ; and although these 
extra services on such occasions may have become in many 
cases mere formal observances, yet it is to be regretted that 
they should have been so generally laid aside. " Man," as 
Gecil remarks, "is a creature of extremes. The middle 
path is generally the wise path ; but there are few wise 

13 



146 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

enough to find it." Because our fathers may have made too 
mucli of forms and outward services, we have made too little 
of them. The form of godliness, without the power, is 
worthless '; hut so long as we are creatures of sense, and not 
all spirit, godliness must with us have a form. While some 
consider grace as inseparable from the participation of the 
sacraments, others lose siglit of them as instituted means of 
conveying grace to the heart. 

In 1736, the session, having been reduced by death, was 
increased by the addition of John Moor, Sen., John Moor, 
Jr., Peter Douglass, Thomas Steele, Alexander Rankin, and 
Ninian Cochran. The manner of electin^j and inductinoj 
these officers of the church, difFered, as it appears, from the 
course now generally pursued. The following extracts from 
the records of the session will exhibit the spirit and manner 
of procedure in a business so solemn and important in its 
influence upon the church. 

"March 11, 1735-6. The session being met and consti- 
tuted by prayer, after due deliberation and calling on God, 
to direct and assist in tliis weighty affair, did all agree to 
make clioice of a certain number to be added to the session, 
and in order to carry on the same we had long communing, 
who shall be fixed on, and ' having agreed upon them, they 
were as followeth," (the individuals above named.) " They 
are to be spoken to and dealt with, that they may joyn 
members in this session, and give their answer at our next 
meeting, which is to be upon the 25th pf March. And so 
concluded by prayer." 

" March 25, 1736. The session being met and constituted 
with prayer by the moderator, Rev. Mr. Thompson, the 
above-named John Moor, Sen., John Moor, Jr., Thomas 
Steel, Peter Douglass, Alexander Rankin, Ninian Cochran, 
having been formerly nominated and invited to be joined 
members of this session, and as was appointed, do appear 
and being asked if they would answer the session's desire, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 147 

and tlieir objections and discouragements being heard and 
answered, they all owned that it was their duty to serve God 
and liis church, as far as they were capable, and if the Lord 
would clear their way, they would answer their desire, and 
join with them. And the above named having been nom- 
inated to the presbytery, the session agreed that their names 
should be published before the congregation." At a subse- 
quent meeting, "June 10, 1736, the session having delib- 
erately proceeded with the above-named men to be added to 
the session, by nominating them to the presbytery, as also 
their names to the congregation, do agree that they shall 
be ordained elders upon the 23d of this inst., June. And 
according to this appointment they were ordained and joined 
as members with the former session." 

The settlement continuing to receive accessions from Ire- 
land and elsewhere, and the remoter sections of the township 
becoming inhabited, sundry persons in the westerly part, 
having petitioned for that object, were set off as a religious 
society, and in 1739, were invested with parish privileges by 
the General Court, and styled the West Parish in London- 
derry. 

Rev. David MacGregor, son of the Rev. James Mac- 
Gregor, the first minister of the town, took the pastoral 
charge of the newly-formed church and society. He had 
received his literary and theological education chiefiy under 
the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Clark, his father's successor. He 
w^as ordained in 1737. The house of worship in which he 
ministered to this people of his charge, until nearly the close 
of his life, was located in the Aiken's Range. He however 
occasionally preached in what was termed the Hill meeting- 
house, nearly a mile west. This was the site first selected by 
the West Parish as the place of worship, and a house was 
there erected. But a number of families residing in the 
easterly part of the town, being dissatisfied with Mr. David- 
son's ministry, and particularly attached to Mr. MacGregor, 



148 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

as he was the sön of their former pastor, and more evangel- 
ical in his doctrinal views, and a more talented preacher than 
Mr. Davidson, united with the newly-formed parish, and 
thus oecasioned a change in the location of their house of 
worship, from the Hill, so called, to the Aiken's Range. This, 
of course, disaffected tliat portion of the parish residing west 
of the house first erected, and induced nearly the same num- 
ber of famihes (about forty) to withdraw from the West, and 
unite with the East Parish. Thus, while a portion of the 
inhabitants passed by Mr. Davidson's house of worship to 
that of Mr. MacGregor, an equal portion passed by Mr. 
MacGregor's house to that of Mr. Davidson. This unhappy 
division, which continued for nearly forty years, was produc- 
tive of evils long feit in the town, not only occasioning alien- 
ation of feeling, and often bitter animosities between the 
members of these two religious societies, but also preventing 
all ministerial and even social intercourse between the pas- 
tors of these flocks. 

The following minute from the records of the session of 
the first church, may serve to show the want of Christian fel- 
lowship which then existed between the two churches. 

"James "Wilson came to the session and desired to be 
adraitted to the sacrament, to which Mr. Davidson told him, 
with the session, that we admitted none that partook with 
Mr. MacGregor ; and was inquired of, whether or not it was 
a personal quarrel with his minister that made him decline 
from him. He answered it was not, but only the tenents 
they held up amongst them, and that he would not join with 
them for the future, and upon these he got a token of admis- 
sion." It is cause of thankfulness that no such alienation 
of feeling now exists ; that for almost a century uninter- 
rupted harmony and Christian intercourse have prevailed 
between these ancient churches, and their respective pastors. 

The original or East Parish, at a meeting in 1739, 
appointed a committee to unite with the session of the 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 149 

churcli, in presenting a call to the Rev. William Davidson, 
who had siii^plied the desk for a time, to settle with them in 
the ministiy, engaging to give hini one hundred and sixty 
pounds as a settlement, and the same sum annually as his 
salary. He accepted of their invitation, and was installed 
as their pastor the same year. He married the widow of 
the Rev. Mr. Thompson, his predecessor. She was a lady 
highly respected. She survived her second husband some 
years, and died September 3, 1796, at the ad vaneed age of 
eighty-six years. 

During Mr. Davidson's ministry of more than fifty years, 
vacancies occurring in the session were suppUed by the fol- 
lowing individuals, who were, from time to time, consecrated 
to the office of ruling elder : Abraham Holmes, John Alex- 
ander, Thomas Cochran, Moses Barnett, Hugh Wilson, John 
Moor, Samuel Morrison, James Alexander, Matthew Miller, 
Thomas Wilson, David Morrison, Peter Calhoun, Robert 
Moor,* John Holmes, and David Patterson. 

The great awakening, or extraordinary seriousness and 
attention to religiën, which, in 1741, in the days of the Ten- 
ants, of Edwards, and of Whitefield, so extensively prevailed 
in this country, pervading New England and most of the 
American colonies, extended to this town. During this period, 
the Rev. David MacGregor visited Boston and some other 
places favored with the divine manifestations, and having 
Avitnessed most striking displays of divine grace, in the hope- 
ful conversion of multitudes, he returned to his people greatly 
enlivened and deeply impressed with the subject of a revival 
among his own charge. He accordingly delivered a series of 
very impressive discourses from Eph. 5 ; 14, " Awake ! thou 
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give 
thee light." The word, thus solemnly and pungently preached, 
was blessed as the meaos of awakening many of his people to 
a deep conviction of their guilt and danger, and led to their 
hopeful conversion to God. Meetings for religious conference 

13* 



150 niSTOKY OF LONDONDERRY. 

and prajer were frequent. The work extended to all classes, 
erabracing more particularly the young, and a happy addition 
was made to the church. But while one flock in the town 
was, like Gideon's fleece, thus watered with the dews of 
heaven, the other remained dry. Mr. Davidson and his 
church stood aloof from all participation in the work, and 
rather deprecated its approach. During this season of re- 
ligious attention, the celebrated Whitefield visited the town, 
and preached to a very large collection of people in the open 
field, the meeting-house not being sufficiently large to ac- 
commodate the multitude assembled. 

In regard to the character of the work which then per- 
vaded the colonies, through the instrumentality of this dis- 
tinguished preacher of the gospel, ministers in New England 
were greatly divided ; as in this town, — some favored, some 
(Tpposed, the work. To the testimony of an assembly of pas- 
tors, at Boston, July 4, 1743, expressing their belief "that 
there had been a happy and remarkable revival of feligion 
in many parts of the land, through an uncommon divine in- 
fluence," among the names of the New Hampshire pastors 
appended, is that of David MacGregor, of the Presbyterian 
church in Londonderry. And in a letter, accompanying his 
testimony, afterwards published in Prince's History, vindicat- 
ing the work against the charges brought by its opposers, as 
partaking of antinomianism and fanaticism, he says : " For my 
own part, I have seen little or no appearance of the growth of 
antinomian errors, or anything visionary or enthusiastic, 
either in my own congregation, or among the people in the 
neigliborhood where I live. Indeed, if asserting justification 
by faith alone, and denying it by the law, as a covenant of 
works, while the eternal obligation of the law as a rule of 
life is strongly maintained in practice as well as profession, — 
if this, I say, be antinomian doctrine, then we have a great 
growth of antinomianism. Again, if asserting the necessity 
of supernatural influence, or divine energy, in conversion, or 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 151 

the reality of the immediate witnessing and sealing of the 
Spirit, be enthusiasm, then we have a remarkable spread of 
enthusiasm: and in these senses, may antinomianism and 
enthusiasm grow more and more, till they overspread the 
whole land." 

Unhappily, Mr. Davidson dissented from such evangelical 
views, opposed the religieus movements of the day, and, as 
the conseqiience, shared not in the refreshing influences which 
descended copiously upon sister churches and congregations. 
Although he, and those in the Presbyterian connection who 
sympathized with him, adhered to the confession of faith, 
and had in constant use the Assembly's Larger and Shorter 
catechism in their families, schools, and congregations ; yet, 
in their preaching they left out, as has been justly said, the 
distinctive doctrines of the Calvinistic system ; dwelt chiefly 
on moral and practical duties, were not zealous for the con- 
version of sinners, and in their preaching and devotional 
services lacked that unction and fervor which distinguished 
the advocates, promotors, and subjects of the great revival. 
The result was, that vital godliness greatly declined in this 
church, few were added by profession, discipline was much 
neglected, and the distinctive lines between the church and 
the world nearly obliterated. 

The session of the church in the West Parish, during Mr. 
MacGregor's ministry, consisted of the following individuals, 
who were at different periods elected and consecrated to the 
office of ruling elder, viz., James McKeen, James Leslie, 
James Clark, James Nesmith, James Lindsley, George Dun- 
can, John Duncan, James Taggart, John Gregg, Robert 
Morrison, John Hunter, John McKeen, Samuel Anderson, 
Samuel Fisher, John Aiken, and James Reed. 

In 1769, anew meeting-house was erected in the East Parish, 
located a few rods south of the site occupied by the first house 
of worship. lts dimensions were sixty-five by forty-five feet, 
with a steeple. It was well finished, and equalled, if it did not 



152 niSTORY OF LONDONDEKRY. 

sui'iDass, in its appearance, most of the cliurch edifices of that 
period. The undertakers of the work were Col. Daniel Rey- 
nolds and Joseph Morrison. So excellent was the timber em- 
ployedin its construction, that the original frame, on beingen- 
largedin 1824, by the insertion of twenty-four feet, was found^ 
to be without defect. In 1845, the house was remodelled, as to 
its internal construction, and so arranged as to afford, not only 
a large and spacious church, but also a town halj^a vestry, a 
room for the session, and another for the parish library, the 
meetings of committees, and other uses. Occupying a com- 
manding position, on an elevated ascent, with its lofty spire, 
it attracts the eye for miles in every direction. Tastefully 
arranged, it is, in its internal structure, " one of the neatest, 
in a country of beautiful sanctuaries." Its location evinces 
the wisdom and taste of the early settlers ; and around this 
spot, on which their first altar was reared, and where they 
statedly met to worship God, the most hallowed associations 
will ever cluster in the breasts of their descendants. 

The change which has taken place in the structure of 
houses of worship, correspond with the dfhanges which have 
taken place in the state of society. " It is not trifling to attend 
to the arrangements in meeting-houses, and the forms of dress. 
They are material forms of human society, and exhibit to us 
the minds, the morals, atid the manners of mankind. Distinc- 
tions of rank among different classes of the community, a part 
of the old system, prevailed very much before the Revolu- 
tion, and were preserved in the dress as well as in the forms 
of society. Meeting-houses were constructed to suit, in some 
degree, the existing state of society. The construction of the 
pulpit with its appendages, in Presbyterian communities, 
corresponded with their form of ecclesiastical government. 
As you entered the pulpit, you first came to the deacons' seat, 
elevated, like the pews, about six inches from the floor of the 
aisles, or passages. In the deacons' narrow slip usually sat two 
venerable men, one at each end. Back of the deacons' seat, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 153 

and elevated ten or twelve inches higher, was the pew of the 
ruling elders, larger than that of the deacons, and about square. 
Back of the elders' pew, and two or three feet higher, and 
against the wall, was the pulpit," Such was the arrangement 
in the house of worship, in the East Parish of Londonderry, 
when the present pastor commenced his ministry. There 
was also appended to the pulpit an iron frame for the hour- 
glass, that was turned by the minister at the conimence- 
ment of his discourse, wliich was expected to continue during 
the running of the sands. Sometimes, when the preacher 
deemed his subject not sufficiently exhausted, the glass would 
be turned, and another hour, in whole or in part, occupied. 
Whether this arrangement of the deacons' and elders' seats, 
which became general throughout New England, grew out of 
pure Presbyterianism, we are not able to say. The Congrega- 
tional Platform also provides for ruling elders in each church, 
but they have never been common in Congregational churches. 
In many of the meeting-houses of that day, there were, on each 
side of what may be called the centre aisle, and in front of 
the pulpit, two or three seats, of sufficiënt length to accommo- 
date eight or ten persons. These were designed for the elderly 
portion of the congregation, and for such as had not pews. 
In these, the men and the women were seated separately, on 
opposite sides. On these plain seats, our grave and devout 
forefathers would contentedly sit during a service of two hours, 
without the luxury of cushions or carpets, and, in the colder 
seasons of the year, without stoves, and in houses not so 
thoroughly guarded against the penetration of the cold as 
those of the present day. 

The Rev. David MacGregor died May 30, 1777, aged 
sixty-eight years. He was the third son of the Rev. James 
MacGregor ; was born in Ireland Nov. 6, 1710, and baptized, 
as the record states, by William Boyd, the agent of the com- 
pany of emigrants who visited America in 1718. He was 
greatly respected, and his death sincerely lamented by the 



154 HISTORY OP LONDONDERRY. 

people of liis cliarge. He stood deservedly high m public 
estimation, as a preacher and a divine. Few, if any t.hen 
upon the stage, were considered his superiors. His praise, 
as a bold, faithf'ul, and successful minister, was in all the 
surrounding churches, and his services eagerlj souglit. 
Thougli not favored with a collegiate cducation, yet, under 
the private instruction of Rev. Mr. Clark, and by his great 
assiduity and application in the acquisition of knowledge, he 
became a scribe well instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, 
and was able at all times and on all occasions, to bring forth 
out of his treasure things new and old. Ile was an animated 
and interesting preacher. His pulpit talents were considered 
superior to those of his father. His voice was fuU and com- 
manding, his delivery solemn and impressive, and his 
sentiments clear and evangelical. His house of worship was 
usually thronged. Many from neighboring towns attended 
regularly upon his ministry. He excelled not only as a 
preacher, but as a j^astor. In the discharge of parochial 
duties, especially in catechizing his flock, he was eminently 
distinguished. 

The folio wing anecdote of Mr. MacGregor lias been pre- 
served, and proves tliat he was not deficiënt in that ready 
wit, wliich was characteristic of the Scotch-Irish generally. 

" William Stinson was one of the first settlers of Dunbar- 
ton. He was born in Ireland, and came to Londonderry 
with his father, wliile young. From tlience he went to Dun- 
barton. For some time, he lived alone in his log house, 
destitute of most of the conveniences of domestic life. On a 
certain time, the Rev. D. MacGregor of Londonderry 
called upon and dined with him. Not having a table, or 
anything that would answer for a better substitute, he was 
obliged to make use of a baslet, turned up. The Rev. Mr. 
MacGregor, being requested to solicit a blessing, perti- 
nently and devoutly implored that his host might blessed 
' in his basket and in his store.' This was literally verified, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 155 

as Stinson became one of the most wealthy men in tlie 
vicinity." 

Mr. MacGregor possessed, in an eminent degree, a spirit 
of firmness and independence, whicli deterred him from 
shrinking from duty on account of apparent danger or diffi- 
cnlty. The following fact may serve to illustrate this trait 
of his character. 

Mr. Jotham Odiorne, a gentleman in Portsmouth, received 
two letters from an unknown hand, in which the writer 
threatened that his buildings and other property M'^ould 
be burned, and his life endangered, unless the sum of five 
hundred pounds, should be left at the westerly end of " the 
long bridge, which is between Kingston and Chester," on a 
certain day. The money was accordingly deposited, and a 
guard placed near to arrest the person who should appear to 
take it. Capt. John Mitchell, a respectable citizen of Lon- 
donderry, having occasion to travel that way in the night, 
alighted from his horse near the spot where the money was 
deposited. He was immediately arrested by the guard, as 
the supposed incendiary, and, notwithstanding his protesta- 
tions of innocence, was conveyed directly to Portsmouth and 
committed to prison. Owing to the singular concurrence of 
circumstances, the public sentiment was very generally and 
strongly excited against him. 

In this painful situation, separated from his family, and 
laboring under the imputation of so foul a crime, he found it 
difiicult, as his trial apj)roached, to obtain a suitable advocate 
to manage his defence, there being at the time few attorneys 
in the county, and the most able being retained by the pros- 
ecutor. Mr. MacGregor, couvinced of Mitchell's innocence, 
and strongly interested in his behalf, ofFered liimself as his 
advocate, and undertook to manage his cause. He accord- 
ingly, by permission of the court, took his seat among the 
legal gentlemen at the bar, who were no less amused than 
surprised, on receiving their clerical associate. Although 



156 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Mr. MacGregor was not particularly versed in the forms 
and teclinicalities of the law, yet he managed the defence 
with much ability and address, and supported it by an in- 
genieus and powerful argument. The evidence for the 
prosecution was so clear, however, that Mitchell was convict- 
ed, notwithstanding all the efforts of his advocate, and was 
sentenced to pay a fine of one thousand pounds, and costs of 
prosecution, and to recognize for his appearance at the next 
term of the court. Being unable to meet this sentence, 
Mitchell was kept in confinement, until, by the exertions of 
Mr. MacGregor, a sufficiënt bond was procured and filed. 
This bond was renewed from time to time, until at length the 
innocence of Mitchell was made manifest, and he was fully 
acquitted. It should be noted, as illustrative of Mr. Mac- 
Gregor's disinterestedness, that Capt. Mitchell was not a 
member of his society, but, having on some accounts become 
inimical to him, was a decided opposer. 

Although Mr. MacGregor had not passed through the 
regular course of education at any of our colleges, yet, such 
were his attainments in general science, and such his high 
reputation, that he received the honorary degree of Master of 
Arts, from Princeton College, in New Jersey. In 1755, the 
Presbyterian church and congregation in the city of New 
York, afterwards the charge of Dr. Rogers, and now of Dr. 
Spring, being then vacant, extended a call, by the advice of 
the presbytery, to Mr. MacGregor, to become their pastor ; 
which call, thougli urged upon him by many considerations, 
he however declined, preferring to remain the minister of his 
own beloved flock, many of whom had been the charge of his 
venerated father. 

Mr. MacGregor did not survive his active usefulness. 
He continued in the faithful and acceptable discharge of the 
duties of his sacred office until removed by death. His last 
Sabbath on earth was a communion season with his church. 
On this occasion he preached, as usual, and manifested, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 157 

during the services, liis accustomed zeal and earnestness. 
At length, exhausted by the efFort, he sank down in his desk, 
and was carried out of the assembly. He ho wever so far 
revived as to return to the house of God, and there give a 
short and parting address to his beloved people, whoni he 
had served so long and so faithfully in the gospel. The scène 
w^as deeply affecting. He died the following Friday. During 
his short confinement, his mind was calm and resigned. His 
faith in that Saviour, whose character he had so fully 
exhibited in all his offices, was now his unfailing support. 
It disarmed death of its sting. To one of his elders, he 
observed, referring to Christ, " I am going to see hira as he 
is." Addressing some of the brethren of the church, in 
reference te the destitute situation in which they would be 
placed, he exhorted them to look to the great Head of the 
church, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever ; and 
bore repeated testimony to the truth and importance of those 
doctrines, which for more than forty years had been the 
subject of his preaching, and which are usually termed the 
doctrines of grace. If 

" The chambei' where the good man meets his fate 
Is pvivileged beyoncl the common walk 
Of virtuous life, quite in the verge of heaven," 

much more is that in which the good minister of Christ 
closes his life of labor, and thence departs to meet his 
reward. 

Dr. Whitaker, pastor of the Tabernacle church, in Salem, 
Mass., preached the funeral discourse of Mr. MacGregor, 
from the words of Elisha, on the removal of Elijah : " My 
father, my father, the chariot of Israël and the horsemen 
thereof." Truly had he been a father, a defence and protec- 
tion, to the religious and moral interests of this community. 
The only published performances of Mr. MacGregor, which 
are now extant, is the letter before referred to, in vindication 

14 



158 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

of Mr. Whitefield, and of the great revival of that day, and 
a sermon, preaclied hy liim at the funeral of Rev. Mr. More- 
head, of Boston. 

A notice of Mr. MacGregor's family may be foiind in a 
subsequent chapter. 

In 1 778, the forty families which had been allowed, for 
some years, to pass from one parish to the other, for the 
more satisfactory enjoyment of religieus privileges, having 
increased to nearly seventy, were confined by an act of the 
General Court, to their respective bounds as jDarishioners, 
and taxed accordingly, for the support of the gospel. The 
greater part of them, however, continued for a time to 
worship as they had formerly done. 

The West Parish, after remaining destitute of a pastor six 
years, and having made trial of a number of candidates, was 
unanimous in the clioice of Rev. William Morrison, a licen- 
tiate of the Associate Reformed Presbytery of New York. 
The presbytery having sustained the call which had been 
presented to him, he was "ordained February 12, 1783, and 
set apart to the work of the gospel ministry, to take the 
charge of the second parish in Londonderry." Rev. David 
Annan preached the ordination sermon. 

Soon after Mr. Morrison's settlement, the session of that 
church, which had been reduced by death, was enlarged by 
the addition of John Bell, John Pinkerton, Robert Thomj^son, 
Abel Plummer, James Aiken, Jonathan Griffin, Abraham 
Duncan, Thomas Patterson, and James Nesmith. Subse- 
quently, and during Mr. Morrison's ministry, James Pinker- 
ton, William Adams, David Brewster, John Fisher, Jonathan 
Savary, Thomas Carlton, and John Pinkerton, Jr., were 
elected and consecrated ruling elders. 

Previous to the death of Mr. MacGregor, the West Par- 
ish had erected a new meeting-house, on a site more central, 
in which he preached a certain part of the time. In this 
house, situated a little east of the graveyard in that parish, 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 159 

Mr. Morrison was ordained, and in this he fulfilled his min- 
istry. It has been recently taken down, and a new house 
erected by the society, a mile west, on the Mammoth Road. 

The Rev. William Davidson, who sustained the pastoral 
charge of the first chiirch and society, continued to officiate 
as their Minister, more than half a century. He was 
ordained in 1740, and died February 15, 1791, at the 
advanced age of seventy-seven years. He was born in Ire- 
land, but educated at the university in Scotland. He grad- 
uated in 1733, being but nineteen years of age. He was a 
man of very amiable character, possessing a peculiarly mild, 
friendly, and benevolent disposition. He was exemplary in 
his deportment, and devoted to the interests of his people. 
He did not excel as a theologian, or as a public speaker. 
His doctrinal views were not characterized by the clearness 
and discrimination of many of the preachers of that time. 
He was supposed to incline to Arminianism ; yet as a pastor, 
he was diligent and afFectionate. He was not distinguished for 
the brilliancy of his talents, but he was beloved and respected 
for the qualities of his heart, and the virtues of his life. 

An aged and highly respected gentleman, now living, says, 
in a communication respecting the history of this town : " I 
have very often heard Mr. Davidson preach abooi Saint Pa-al," 
alluding to his peculiarly broad pronunciation, and very fre- 
quent reference to the great apostle in his discourses, "and 
if he had been l)rought before me charged with any crime, 
as a judge, I should have acquitted him," so expressive of 
benignity were his features. He did not, in any degree 
whatever, entano-le liimself in the affairs of the world. 
Attentive to the duties of his office and the calls of his par- 
ish, he left the management of his temporal concerns, in a 
great degree, to INIi's. Davidson, a lady well qualified to fiU 
the station in which she was placed. He studied to preserve 
the peace and harmony of his society. He frequently remit- 
ted his demands upon his parishioners when requested, never 



160 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

suffering any to be distressed in payment of their tax for his 
support, lic died siiicerely beloved and respected by tliose 
among whoni he long labored, and in whose service "-his 
locks had whitened, and his eyes grown dim." 

He left four children, two sons and two daughters, one 
of whom was married to the Rev. Solomon Mooi^of New 
Boston. The other remained unmarried, oecupying, until 
her death, April 10, 1836, the homestead of her father. His 
eldest son joined the British, during the revolutionary war, 
and settled in Nova Scotia, and sustained there important 
civil offices. The younger brother, Hamilton, also removed 
to the same place after the Declaration of Independence. 

After the decease of Mr. Davidson, the parish remained 
destitutc of a settled ministry until 1795, when the Rev. 
Jonathan Brown was ordained their pastor, by the London- 
derry presbytery. Mr. Brown was a native of Pittsfield, 
N. H. He w^as early a hopeful subject of divine grace, and 
gave pleasing promise of usefulness in the church of Christ. 
Although in indigent circumstances, he sought an education 
for the gospel ministry. Becoming acquainted with the Rev. 
Mr. Murray, of Newburyport, he was encouraged and sus- 
tained by him in prosecuting his object. On being licensed, 
he was solicited by a number of vacant parishes to become 
a candidate for settlement. Ple accepted the invitation from 
Londonderry. There was, however, in this place, a strong and 
determined oppositiou to his settlement, by a large minority 
of the parish. But notwithstanding their remonstrance, the 
presbytery saw fit to ordain him. In doing tliis, they did net 
act with that wisdom which subsequent experience has fully 
taught ecclesiastical councils. It has been long found unad- 
visable toforce a candidate upon a people, where an opposition 
of any importance exists. Tliough it may not be strong at lirst, 
it more generally increases, tending not only to divide and 
Aveaken the society, but greatly to mar the peace and counter- 
act the labors of the pastor. It proved so in this case. While 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 161 

Mr. Brown's situation was trying and unpleasant, the cliurch 
and society were agitated and weakened. The individuals 
opposed to his settlement withdrew from the parish, were 
organized, and, by an act of the legislature, incorporated as a 
Congregational society. A church was also formed on Con- 
gregational principles. This society maintained separate 
worship a considerable part of the time, for about twelve 
years, but happily, they did not erect a house of worship, 
which serves in such cases to perpetuate divisions. Their 
public worship w^as held in a hall fitted up for the purpose. 
The secession was productive of alienations and controversies, 
which for a time greatly marred the peace and happiness of 
the community. 

After nine years of pastoral service, Mr. Brown, in conse- 
quence of renewed opposition and alleged imprudences, was, 
at his own request, dismissed from his charge, in September, 
1804. He continued, however, to remain in the town, and 
died February, 1838, at the age of eighty. He was, without 
doubt, a man of sincere piety. Living, as he did, a single 
life, and possessing certain peculiarities of character, he sub- 
jected himself to many uncandid and unkind remarks, and 
in many instances, his movements were no doubt indiscreet, 
not comporting with the sacredness of the ofhce which he 
sustained. He uniformly manifested a deep interest in the 
cause of truth and the advancement of the Redeemer's king- 
dom, in the salvation of his fellow-men ; and although he was 
required by the presbytery not to preach or perform any 
official acts in the parish after his dismission, his conduct 
as a parishioner was uniformly exemplary and commendable, 
and he was for nearly thirty years a valued friend and helper 
to his successor. He experienced severe trials, and towards 
the closing scène of life, endured many spiritual contlicts ; 
but we trust that, thus tried and purified, his faith m his 
Redeemer was found unto praise, and honor, and glory. 
During the ministry of Mr. Brown, John Nesraith, Daniel 

14* 



162 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

McKeen, and John Taylor, were added as ruling elders to 
the session of the chiirch. 

In 1809, the third or Congregational parish became united 
to the Presbyterian society, from which it had seceded, and 
they were, by an act of the legislature, incorporated as the 
First Parish of Londonderry. In forming this so desirable 
a union, eacli society modified some of its peculiarities in 
respect to church government. In this they manifested their 
wisdom and their regard to the common good, and for forty 
years the union and harmony then commenced have been 
uninterruptedly continu ed ; so that the division and aliena- 
tions once existing are now forgotten. They have, during 
this period, fully realized liow good and how pleasant a tliing 
it is for brethren to dweil together in unity. 

The present pastor of this church and society was or- 
dained, Sept. 12, 1810. The services of the occasion were 
performed by the following ministers. Rev. Abishai Alden, 
of Montville, Conn., offered the introductory prayer, llev. 
Samuel Worcester, D. D., of Salem, preached the sermon, 
Rev. Samuel Woods, D.D., of Boscawen, made the consecrat- 
ing prayer, Rev. William Morrison, D. D., of Londonderry, 
gave the charge, Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., of Newburyport, 
presented the right hand of fellowship, Rev. James Milti- 
more, of Newbury, addressed the people, and the Rev. John 
Codman, D. D., of Dorchester, oifered the concluding prayer. 

Of these beloved and respected brethren who officiated on 
the occasion, none survive but the venerable Dr. Dana. 

On the union of the two churches, they proceeded agree- 
ably to the articles of their constitution to a choice of elders. 
The following individuals were elected and set apart to that 
office. Daniel McKeen, James Palmer, Charles Sniith, 
John Burnham, John Crocker, James Moor, AndrcAv ]\Ioor, 
David Adams, John Dinsmore, Nathaniel Nourse, and James 
Gregg. Of this number but one, the last named, now sur- 
vives, at the age of seventy-seven. Samuel Burnham, Mat- 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 163 

thew Clark, Jonathan Aclams, Robert Morse, Williara Choate, 
James Choate, John Humphrey, Ilenry Taylor, William Ela, 
Joseph Jenness, Nathaniel Parker, Abel F. Hildreth, Moses 
C. Pilsbiny, Jesse AYebster, William Cogswell, Robert 
Montgomery, Humphrey Choate, James Choate, Jr., and 
James Taylor, have been, at successive periods, added to the 
session, eleven of whom are now ruling elders. 

In May, 1816, Elder John Pinkerton, a distinguished bene- 
factor of the town, died. He had long been a useful, respect- 
able, and influential citizen, steadfast and active in the 
support of civil and religious order. By a continued course 
of industry and prudence in business, he accumulated a large 
estate. In the distribution of his property, after making 
provision for his heirs, he bestowed nine thousand dollars 
upon each of the two Presbyterian societies in town for the 
support of the gospel, and thirteen thousand as a fund for 
the support of an academy. His name will be deservedly 
precieus in this place, and be had in lasting and grateful 
remembrance, for his public and private virtues, as well as 
for his liberal donations. 

The Rev. William Morrison died March 9, 1818, after 
having been the minister of the West Parish thirty-five years. 
He was born in Scotland, and came to this country while a 
young man, with a view to obtain an education for the Chris- 
tian ministry. He was furnished with letters from respecta- 
ble ministers in Scotland, to several ministers in Philadelphia 
and New York, who received him kindly and encouraged his 
pious design. But as the college of New Jersey, for which 
he was destined, had its operations entirely suspended by 
the revolutionary war, as was the case with similar institu- 
tions in the land, he had recourse to academies and private 
tutors, for the attainment of the requisite classical and gen- 
eral knowledge. Placing himself under the care of the 
Associate Reformed Presbytery of New York, he pursued 
his theological course, under the tuition of the Rev. Robert 



164 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

Annan, then settlecl in the vicinity of Pliiladelpliia, subse- 
quentlj pastor of tlie Presbyterian church in Boston. Ilis 
talents enabled him to surmount the disadvantages of a 
circumscribed education, and supplied in no common degree, 
the defects of early culture. 

Having received license to preach the gospel, he vms soon 
after employed to supply the desk in the West Parish of 
Londonderry, then vacant by the death of the Rev. Mr. 
MacGregor. He soon received a unanimous call from the 
church and society to become their pastor. He accepted 
their invitation and was ordained, February 12, 1783. Here 
he continued for thirty-five years in the assiduous and suc- 
cessful discharge of the duties of his office. He was a man 
greatly respected and beloved, not only by his own charge, 
but by the surrounding communities, which often enjoyed 
his labors. These labors were, indeed, Avidely extended, 
being highly valued and eagerly sought by cliurches abroad. 
The following extract from a communication of the Hon. 
James Wilson, will serve to illustrate the estimation in which 
he was held, and the interest feit in his pulpit and ministerial 
services. 

" It is among my earliest recollections, that old parson 
Morrison, of Londonderry, used to come to Peterborough 
once every year, and hold a protracted religious meeting, of 
some seven or eight days, durin^ which time he administered 
the ordinance of baptism to the children of the town, and 
also the Lord's supper to the communicants of the church, 
after the forms of tlie Presbyterian church. It was the most 
solemn and imposing religious service I ever witnessed. To 
my childish fancy, at the time, the Rev. old gentleman was 
a lo7ig iüay9 better than otlier men. I remember to have 
thought that there would have been no sin in worshipping 
him a litthr The character of Mr. Morrison was correctly 
delineated by the Rev. Dr. Dana, in a discourse delivered at 
his funeral ; from this discourse the following extracts are 
taken : — 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 165 

'"' Plis sermons were purely and strictly evangelical ; were 
luminous and instructive ; faitliful and searcliing ; awfully 
alarming to the wicked ; yet encouraging to the sincere, and 
tenderly consoling to the mourner in Zion. Nor were his 
prayers less impressive than his sermons. Replete with rev- 
erence and afFectionate devotion ; the breathings of a soul 
apparently in near communion with its God ; f uil, yet concise ; 
adapted to occasions and circumstances ; they could scarcely 
fail to solemnize and edify the hearers. 

" His manner, in the sacred desk, was peculiar. It had 
something of patriarchal simplicity, something of apostolical 
gravity and authority. Yet it was mild, afFectionate, and 
persuasive. It indicated a mind absorbed in heavenly things, 
deeply conscious of its awful charge, and anxiously intent to 
fasten eternal truths on the consciences and hearts of men. 

" As a pastor, he was faithful, assiduous, and tender ; 
instant in season, and out of season ; watching for souls as 
one that must give account ; and finding his delight in the 
discharge of the most laborious and exhausting duties of his 
office. How little did he spare himself, even in those closing 
years of life, in which his emaciated form proclaimed the 
ravages of disease, and infirmity, combined with age, seemed 
to demand repose. He was truly the father of his beloved 
people. But his cares and labors were by no means confined 
to his flock. The general interests of Zion ; the peace and 
Avelfare of churches near and remote, engaged his feelings, 
and frequently employed his exertions. Few were so often 
resorted to, as counsellors, in cases of difficulty ; and few 
have been so successful in promoting the interests of peace 
and order. 

" He took an energetic and interested part in the variety 
of plans and institutions, to which the present age has given 
birth, for disseminating the Scriptures, for extending the 
knowledge of the gospel, for promoting the power of godli- 
ness, and effecting a reformation of manners. Every design 



166 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

connected witli the glory of God, and best interests of man, 
engaged liis cordial concurrence, liis active patronage, and 
his fervent prayers. He was mucli animated and deliglited 
by the recent signs of the times. If we follow him into the 
private walks of life, we perceive a character consistent and 
uniform, estimable and lovely. His piety was strict without 
austerity, and fervent without enthusiasm. If there was a 
trait in his character conspicuous above the rest it was 
henevolence, a benevolence which promptedhim to unwearied 
and self-denying exertions in promoting the real happiness 
of his fellow-creatures ; which inspired candor for their 
failings, and compassion for their distresses ; whicli could 
forgive the injurious, and overcome evil with good." 

Dr. Morrison lived to the age of seventy. But eight days 
before his death, he preached a funeral sermon for one of 
his congregation from Ps. o9 : 4. " Lord, make me to know 
mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is ; that I 
may know how frail I am." It was emphatically his own 
funeral sermon. The closing scène of his protracted and 
useful life was consoling and instructive. 

On the Sabbath preceding his death, his sickness, which 
had confined him for a few days, assumed an alarming 
appearance, and he evidently considered his dissolution 
approaching, but he made it known to his family that he was 
" not af raid to die." To Mrs. Morrison, he said : " You know 
that the Sabbath was always my best day, and my employ- 
ment then, my best employment. But this is the last Sabbath 
I shall spend on earth. In a short time I shall bc spending 
an everlasting Sabbath." He added, with a smile, " will not 
that be a blessed exchange?" 

He was mucli employed dnring the short period which 
intervened, in repeating favorite passages of Scripture, and 
uttering pious thoughts and ejaculations. " O, to be with 
Jesus!" " Come, Lord Jesus!" were expressions frequently 
on his lips. " I long," said he, " to be away ; but desire to 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 



167 



siibmit." " To be with Christ is far better." The last seii-^ 
tence that could be distinctly iinderstood, was, " Come, come, 
Lord Jesus!" With these words on his lips, he expired 
without a struggle. 

The bereaved parish which had so long been his special 
charge, voted not only to defray all expenses attending the 
funeral of their venerated pastor, but to procure a suitable 
gravestone, which bears the following inscription : — 



■*' , In memory of 

the Eevekend William Morrison, D. D., 

for 35 ycars the beloved and honored Pastor 

of this Church. 

From nature, he inherited 

an energetic and capacious mind, 

with a heart of tenderest sensibility ; 

from grace, all the virtues 

which adorn the man and the Christian. 

As a Divine, a Preacher, and a Pastor, 

he held acknowledged eminence. 

With apostolic simplicity and genuine eloquencc, 

he preached Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

He died, in sweet peace and aniraated hope, 

March 9, 1818, aged 70. 

When this Monument, 
erected by his mourning fiock, 

shallhavc gone to decay, 

his dear memory will still remain ; 

for the righteous shall be in evcrlasting remembrance. 



168 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

This parish, whicli had from its commencement been so 
hig I favored with pastors of distinguishcd talent, found it 
not easy to unite in one as their minister. They made trial of 
several candidates for settlement ; among these were Mr. 
Ebenezer Cheever, Mr. Elam Clark, Mr. J. R. Ambler, and 
S. M. Emerson, to eacli of whom a call was voted by the 
parish, but not with unanimity ; it was therefore with 
propriety declined by these individuals, who were subse- 
quently settled in respectable and inviting parishes. The 
people remained destitute of a pastor nearly four years. 
Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., having resigned the fresidency 
of Dartmouth College, was with great unanimity invited to 
become their pastor, and was ofFered a salary of seven hun- 
dred dollars, six hundred being voted by the parish, and one 
himdred dollars added by subscription. He accepted the 
invitation, and was installed by the Londonderry presby- 
tery, January 15, 1822. The sermon was preached by his 
brother, Rev. Samuel Dana, of Marblehead, Mass. ; inti'o- 
ductory prayer, by Rev. E. P. Bradford ; installing prayer, 
by Rev. John Kelly ; charge, by Rev. James Miltimore ; 
right hand of fellowship, by Rev. E. L. Parker ; concluding 
prayer, by Rev. William Miltimore. 

In April, 1826, the pastoral relation of Rev. Dr. Dana to 
the church and society in the West Parish, was dissolved, 
at his particular request, with the consent though deep 
regret of the people, as appears from the following extract 
from their records : " Although our venerated pastor may 
have failed to convince us that his reasons for asking a dis- 
mission are sufficiënt to justify his removal, an event which 
we cannot contemplate but with painful emotions, yet such 
is our affection^te regard for him, and our disposition 'to 
adopt such measures as will most promote his interest and 
happiness, that we consider it our duty not to oppose his dis- 
mission." An expression of feeling alike honorable to their 
beloved minister, and to themselves. This was the lirst 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 169 

iiistance of a dismissal in that religious societj, since its 
organization, which was iiearlj a centuiy. 

Dr. Dana having retired from his charge in Londonderry, 
was shortlj after installed pastor of the second Presbyterian 
church and society in Newburyport. 

The West Parish, now vacant, was supplied by Stephen 
D. Ward, as a candidate for settlement, afterwards by Mr. 
Ebenezer Everett, to each of whoni a call was voted, but 
not with sufficiënt unanimity to justify, in their view, an 
acceptance. Mr. Amasa A. Hayes being introduced to the 
parish, after supplying the desk for a few months, was, with- 
out a dissenting voice, invited to become their pastor, with 
a salary of six hundred dollars annually. The call was 
accepted, and he was ordained June 25, 1828. The follow- 
ing was the order of exercises : Introductory prayer, by Rev. 
Stephen Morse ; sermon, by Pev. Leonard Woods, D. D. ; 
charge, by Rev. E. P. Bradford ; right hand of fellowship, 
by Rev. Calvin Cutler ; ordaining prayer, by Rev. Peter 
Holt ; address to the people, by Rev. Thomas Savage ; con- 
cluding prayer, by Rev. John Kelly. 

The pastoral connection thus happily formed, and with 
great promise of usefulness, was soon dissolved. Mr. Hayes 
had no sooner entered upon the duties of his office, than his 
health began to decline ; though he continued to minister 
to his beloved charge for more than two years, arnidst much 
weakness and suffiiring, until his labors were suddenly closed 
by death, October 23, 1830, in the thirty-third year of his 
age. 

Rev. Amasa A. Hayes was bom in Granby, Connecticut, 
January, 1798. He was graduated at Yale College, in 1824, 
and the same year he entered the Theological Seminary at 
Andover,' Mass. Having completed the prescribed course 
at that Institution, he received license to preach the gospel, 
in 1827. Immediately on leaving the Seminary at Andover, 
he was employed as a' candidate for settlement in London- 

15 



170 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

derrj, and continued to supply the cliurch tliere most of the 
time until liis settlement the succeedirig year. 

The following remarks, respecting the chafacter of the 
Rev. Mr. Hayes, are taken from the discoursc delivered at 
his funeral, by the writer of the present work : " The early 
dechne and final departure of that beloved brother and fel- 
low-hiborer, wliose hfeless form is now before ns, has saddened 
our hearts. Though perraitted to remain not long with us ; 
though but lately consecrated, in this place, to the work of 
the ministry, and though the great Head of the church so 
tveakened his strength in the %imy^ during this short period, 
that he was able but seldom to meet his ministerial brethren 
in the interchange of services, or at their more public meet- 
ings ; yet we have all known enough of the beloved man, of 
his Christian spirit, his devotedness to his work, and his 
winning deportraent, to endear him to our hearts. Of his 
fidelity and ability as a preacher, of his engaging and affec- 
tionate manners as a pastor, the united and strong attachment 
which this people have borne to him, even while unable to 
meet their calls, is a sufficiënt testimony. In patience under 
sufferings, which were severe and protracted, in resignation to 
the divine will, and in Christian fortitude, he was indeed an 
example. While many, with half the infirmity and suffering 
which he for months experienced, would have relinquished 
all attempts at active service, he was seen attending in some 
good degree to the state of his flock, preparing beaten oilfor the 
sanctuary, and ministering with animation in this holy j)lace. 
It was his often-expressed desire, that he might not long 
survive his usefulness, and in this he was singularly indulged. 
But a few days since, he here conducted, unassisted, the . 
services of a communion Sabbath, and ate with his beloved 
flock the Christian passover. Yea, it was in the sacred desk, 
engaged in a labor of love to my own people, that his tongue 
began to falter, and symptoms of his speedy dissolution to 
appear. He hastened from the pulpit to his home, there to 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 171 

lie down and die. He loved, indeed, his divine Master, and 
he loved his work. But alas ! God was pleased to weaken 
his strength in the way, and to shorten his days. The exer- 
cise of his rational powers was suspended but for a short 
time. Although unable to say much, his mind appeared 
calm and serene. His faith and hope in the divine Redeemer 
disarmed death of its sting, and the grave of its terrors ; and 
we have good reason to believe, that he has died in the 
Lord, that he has rested from all his painful labors, and now 
enjoys the reward of a good and faithful servant of Jesus 
Christ. It is, indeed, to be lamented, that the life and useful- 
ness of this man of God have so soon come to a close. His 
death is a dark dispensation, which calls for mourning ; also 
for submission ; for the Lord has done it." 

At a meeting of the West Parish in Londonderry, Sept. 
12, 1831, it was voted to give Mr. John R. Adams a call to 
settle in the ministry in said i:)arish ; and to give him six 
hundred dollars annually, as his salary. Mr. Adams accepted 
the call,' and was ordained October 5, 1831. The order of 
exercises was as folio ws : Introductory prayer, by Rev. Mr. 
Bradford, of New Boston ; sermon, by the Rev. Mr. Cowles, 
of Danvers, Mass. ; ordaining prayer, by the Rev. Mr. Kelly, 
of Harapstead; the charge, by Rev. Mr. Holt, of Peter- 
borough ; right hand of fellowship, by the Rev. Mr. Parker, 
of Derry ; address to the society, by Rev. Dr. Church, of 
Pelham ; concluding prayer, by Rev. Mr. Savage, of Bed- 
ford. Mr. Adams is a son of John Adams, Esq., formerly 
of Andover, twenty-two years principal of Phillips Academy. 
He graduated at Yale College, 1821, and completed his theo- 
logical course at the Seminary in Andover, 1826. In 1832, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann MacGregor, 
daughter of Colonel Robert MacGregor, of Derry, and 
granddaughter of Rev. David MacGregor, the first minister 
of the West Parish in Londonderry. 

January 1, 1834, Jonathan Humphrey, James Perkins, 



172 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

and Robert Boyd, Jr., liaving been elected elders, were con- 
secrated to that office. 

In September, 1838, Mr. Adams resigned his pastoral 
charge, and was dismissed hy the Londonderry presbytery 
in October foUowhig. He was subsequently installed over 
the Evangelieal church in Brighton, Mass., and is now the 
pastor of the Congregatjonal church and society in Gorham, 
Me. 

The Presbyterian society in Londonderry, after having 
been supplied by several candidates for settlement, Sep- 
tember 8, 1840, extended an unanimons call to Mr. Timothy 
G. Brainerd, to settle over them as their pastor, offering him 
a salary of six hmidred dollars, to be paid semi-annually. 
The call was accepted ; and Mr. Brainerd was ordained 
November G, 1840. The order of exercises on the occasion 
was the following : Reading of the Scriptures, by Rev. Ste- 
phen T. Allen, of Merrimack ; introductory prayer, by Rev. 
Calvin Cutler, of Windham ; sermon, by Rev. Dr. Woods, 
of Andover ; ordaining prayer, by Rev. E. P. Bradford, 
of New Boston : charge to the candidate, by Rev. E. L. 
Parker, of Derry ; right hand of fellowship, by Rev. P. B. 
Day, of Derry ; concluding prayer, by Rev. J. M. C. Bartley, 
of Hampstead. Mr. Brainerd was boni in the city of Troy, 
N. Y., but in early life removed with his parents to St. 
Albans, Vt., where he remained until he completed his 
studies preparatory for college. He graduated at Yale Col- 
lege, in the class of 1830. After liis graduation, he spent 
several years in teaching, at Wethersfield, Conn., at Mere- 
dith, N. Y., and at Randolph, Vt. He also engaged in the 
study of law, which he pursued until he was nearly quali- 
fied for admission to the bar. But while at Randolpli, his 
views of duty and usefulness underwent a change, whicli led 
him to the choice of the Christian ministry as his employ- 
ment for life. His theological studies were pursued at 
Andover, Mass., where he graduated in 1839. In 1841, he 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORT. 173 

married Miss Harriet P. Cilley, a native of Nottingham, 
N. H., daughter of Major Jacob Cillej, and granddaughter 
of General Josej^h Cilley, of Nottingham, and of General 
Enoch Poor, of Exeter, N. H., both. officers in the army of 
the Revolution. She died September 23, 1848, aged thirty- 
seven years, leaving four daughters. Mr. Brainerd is still 
pastor of the Presbyterian society in Londonderry. 

In 1836, the Presbyterian society in Londonderry voted 
to build a meeting-house, to be located on the west side of 
the Mammoth Road, at the corner and north of the old road 
leading from Captain Isaac McAlester's house. The house 
was accordingly built and located agreeably to the above 
vote; and at a parish meeting, August 21, 1837, it was 
voted that divine service commence at the new meeting- 
house the first Sabbath after it shall have been dedicated. 

In consequence of the removal of the place of worship a 
mile west from the old meeting-house, a considerable number 
of families on the easterly side of the parish were disaffected. 
And as their attendance upon divine worship was rendered 
more inconvenient, they withdrew from the parish, and, 
uniting with families residing in the lower village of Derry 
and that vicinity, formed a Congregational church and society. 
A preliminary meeting, to consider the expediency of form- 
ing a church in the village, was held July 8, 1837. After 
due deliberation, it was decided to call a council for this 
purpose, on the tliird day of August following. The council 
met on that day, agreeably to letters missive, and proceeded 
to organize a church, to be called the " First Congregational 
Church in Derry." The reasons assigned for forming another 
church were, that the population in the village was increas- 
ing ; that there was an important literary institution there, 
and that the inhabitants might enjoy increased facilities for 
meeting on the Sabbath, and for occasional religious exer- 
cises. 

In the organization of the church, forty members were 
15* 



174 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

admitted from the Presbyterian church in Derry, twenty- 
three from the Presbyterian church in Londonderry, and one 
from the church in Pelham. In the course of a few months, 
thirteen others were admitted by letter. Nathaniel Parker, 
Abel F. Hildreth, and John Perkins, were chosen deacons. 
In the same year, the society erected a neat and commodious 
meeting-house, on the summit of a gentle swell of land, in the 
westerly part of the village. 

On the 12th of August, 1837, the church voted, unani- 
mously, to give Mr. Pliny B. Day a call to settle with tbem 
in the gospel ministry ; in which call the society, with like 
unanimity, concurred. The invitation being accepted. Mr. 
Day w^as ordained on the fourth of October following. Mr. 
Day is a native of Norwich, Mass. He graduated at Amherst 
College, in 1834, and at Andover Theological Seminary, in 
1837. His pastoral connection with that church and society 
still continues. 

A Methodist Ej^iscopal church was formed in Derry, 
August 6, 1834, consisting, at the time of its formation, of 
fifteen members. Caleb Dustin, J. T. G. Dinsmore, W. S. 
Follansbee, John March, and John Taylor, were appointed 
stewards. In 183G, a neat and convenient meeting-house 
was erected for their accommodation, in the Lower Village. 
The church at the present time consists of eighty members ; 
and has since its formation been supplied by the following 
ministers, in succession. Rev. Pliilo Brownson, Rev. James 
McCane, Rev. Samuel Iloyt, Rev. W. H. Brewster, Rev. 
Michael Quimby, Rev. Jonathan Ilaseltine, Rev. James 
Dow, Rev. James Adams, Rev. Richard Newhall, Rev. 
Ezekiel Adams, Rev. G. W. T. Rogers, Rev. Freeman Q. 
Barrows, and Rev. Joseph Palmer. 

In closing this summary view of the churches and their 
several pastors, in this ancient town, I remark, that the eccle- 
siastical is by far the most important chapter in the history 
of a people, whether considered in relation to the life that 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 175 

now is, or that which is to come. While in the narrative of 
some communities it presents a dark page, in regard to this 
town it is cause of devout gratitiide that in no instance 
has the ministry been dishonored. Of the thirteen rainistCTs 
who have held the pastoral charge of its respective parishes, 
there is not one but has sustained, unblemished, the Christian 
character, and been acceptable, and in a degree successful, in 
the discharge of the duties of the sacred office. Of the five 
ministers preceding the present pastor, who have had 
charge of the first or original parish, all but one died while 
sustaining the pastoral relation, and now repose in the same 
graveyard, surrounded by their beloved flocks.* There 
rests also the dust of the Rev. Mr. Brown, who, although 
he had early resigned the pastoral charge, continued to offi- 
ciate in the Christian ministry till advanced age, and died 
respected by those who had long known him as a friend and 
a neighbor. 

In the West Parish, three of its ministers sustained the 
pastoral relation until it was dissol ved by death. Two of its 
pastors, at their special request, were dismissed, while each 
of the Presbyterian societies, as w^ell as the Congregational 
society, enjoys the labors of a settled pastor. The Methodist 

* And now the remains of die sixth pastor lie in the same yard. It 
is probably true of no town in New England. which lias been settled 
the same length of time, that all the pastors of the parish are buried 
together in the same cemetery. To these may be added Rev. David 
MacGregor, of the AA^'est Parish, making scven of the pastors of Lon- 
dondcrry who now rest there from their labors, and will sleep together till 
the resurrcction. 

In the month of November, subseqnent to the death of Rev. Mr. 
Parker, Mr. Joshua W. AYellman. a native of Cornish, N. H , and a 
graduateof Dartmouth College in 1846, and of the Theological Semi- 
nary, Andover, in 1850, supplied the pulpit of the Presbyterian chnrcli 
in Derry, for a few Sabbaths. Mr. Wellman was the first and only 
candidate of the society, and at a parish meeting, January 1851, received 
an mianimous call to become their pastor. This call was subsequently 
accepted, and he is to be ordained in June of the present year. 



176 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

society also, since its oi'ganization, lias uniformly been siip- 
plied with the preacliing of the gospel. No one year has 
passed since the settlement of the town, in which there has 
nJrbeen a stated pastor to conduct the services of the sanc- 
tuary, and usually two; nor a Sabbath in which the Word of 
God has not been read and expounded in the public congre- 
gations of the i)eople. If there is any advantage, then, in the 
constant employment of an able and faithful ministry, this 
town has probably possessed it as fuUy as any otlier in New 
England. That there are real and substantial benefits con- 
nected with the stated ministry, and the ordinances of reli- 
gion, will not be denied by any who admit the truth of the 
divine word. " Faith cometh by hearing," and " by the 
foolishness of preaching, it pleases God to save those that 
are lost." 

The records of the churches in this town exhibit evidence 
that the ordinance of the Christian ministry, here so uni- 
formly maintained, has not been without its appropriate 
fruits. Previous to the division of the original town into 
parishes, we find that the number of communicants at the 
table of the Lord was large, that many were added to the 
^^".!rch from one communion season to another. The state 
of the churches after a division took place, is not so well 
known, as very imperfect records were kept and preserved. 
We have adverted to the interest feit in this town on the 
subject of religion, during " the great awakening in 1741." 
A very considerable number became the hopeful subjects of 
divine grace, and were added to the church of Christ. In 
the first church in Derry there have been, since 1810, 
repeated and powerful manifestations of divine grace, as has 
also been the case in the other religious communities within 
the limits of the original township. 

The first of these seasons was in 1815, when thirty-one 
members were added to the church. It occurred in connec- 
tion with the usual means of grace. A like season of refresh- 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 177 

ing was experienced by this cluirch in 1823, resulting in the 
hopeful conversion of nearly forty individuals. The year 
following (1824), the General Association of New Hampsliire 
held its anniversary in the East Parish of Londonderry. A 
divine blessing attended its deeply interesting and solemn 
services. Sixty-two were, in eonsequence, added to the 
church. In 1827, an awakened interest in religion was 
manifested in the community ; more than thirty individuals 
publicly professed their faith in Christ. 

The first " protracted meeting " (as such religious convoea- 
tions were usually termed) held in this town, was in 1831. 
It continued four days, which was the usual term of such 
meetings. There were public services during the day, the 
same as on the Sabbath. The regular discourses were 
generally preceded and foliowed by brief extemporaneous 
addresses by ministers in attendance. The intermission of 
public exercises was improved as an inquiry meeting, afford- 
ing any who might be in an awakened and anxious state 
of mind, an opportunity to receive appropriate instruction 
from the pastor and others. In the evenings of these days, 
there were more usually religious services in the different 
neighborhoods. The mornings were seasons of special 
praycr, both private and social. The exercises were more 
commonly sustained by the neighboring ministers, occasion- 
ally by an evangelist. 

Such was the order generally pursued in these meetings, 
which soon became general throughout the land, among all 
denominations of evangelical Christians. They were attended 
in most instances with very happy results, until at length an 
undue reliance came to be placed on these special services, 
to the neglect of the ordinary but more important means of 
grace. Then the divine influence was withheld, and in some 
sections of the land, and by certain eccentric teachers, irreg- 
ularities and»iraproprieties of conduct, in respect to these 
services, were introduced and sanctioned. They were there- 



178 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

fore, at length, suspended by the churches generalij, and 
relianee for the revival and promotion of religion was placed 
more entirely on the divinely apj)ointed ministrations of the 
stated pastor, in his pulpit and parochial labors. Butthough 
these protracted meetings were in some cases perverted from 
tlieir original design, attended witli irregularities, and. the 
occasion of evil, they were iri general the means of great 
good, and attended with signal blessings to the churches. 

The first meeting of the kind held in this place was highly 
salutary in its effects ; sixty-eight were in consequence 
added to the church. In 1834, a similar meeting was held 
here, and attended with like effect ; a goodly number gave 
evidence of a saving cliange, and made public profession of 
their faith. 

In 1837-8, a very general attention to the subject of 
religion prevailed throughout the town, and all its religious 
societies were blessed with the special influences of the Spirit. 
To the Presbyterian church in Derry, more than an hundred 
were added by profession. Ninety-six persons, comprising 
individuals of various classes and ages in the community, 
from the aged of more than threescore and ten, to the youth 
of fourteen, were received to the communion of the church 
on one Sabbath. The scène was most deeply solemn and 
impressive. Rev. Dr. Woods of Andover was present, and 
preached to a large and attentive assembly. It was estimated 
that more than two hundred, within the bounds of Derry, 
became the hopeful subjects of divine grace, during this 
season of revival. The last revival season enjoyed by this ^ 
religious community was in 1841 ; thirty were then added to 
the church. 

In the Presbyterian society in Londonderry, there were, 
during the years 1831 aud 1832, times of refreshing, under 
the ministry of Rev. Mr. Adams ; and as the fruit of these 
revivals about seventy were added to the churöh. There was 
also a special attention to the subject of religion, ncar the 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 179 

close of the year 1834, and as the result, about fifteen made 
a public profession of their faitli in Christ. There was also 
a general revival of religion in that society, in 1842, under 
the ministry of Rev. Mr. Brainerdj and about eighty gave 
evidence of a saving change. Among these were to be found 
the man and woman of grey hairs ; but most of them were 
in middle age, and in the morning of life. By this out- 
pouring of the Holy Spirit, the church was much refreshed, 
and increased in numbers and strength. 

Besides these more marked displays of divine -grace, 
attended with most happy effect, there have been, in the 
mean time, lighter showers of divine influence, which have 
produced many precieus fruits of righteousness. And it is 
deserving of notice, that the far greater proportion of those 
who have become members of the church of Christ, since the 
commencement of the second century, were fruits of these 
seasons of revival. The Word and ordinances of God, how- 
ever regularly and faithfully dispensed, are ineffectual to 
the salvation of the soul, if unattended by the special 
influences of the Spirit. "Paul may plant and Apollos 
water, but it is God who givetli the increase." 

Let then the Holy Spirit, the author of these sacred influ- 
ences, by which men are awakened from the slumbers of 
impenitence, convinced of their guilt and danger as sinners, 
renewed in the spirit of their minds, sanctified in heart and 
life, and fitted for the light and purity of heaven, be duly 
honored, and his agency humbly and fervently sought. 




180 HISTORY OF LONDONPERRY. 



CHAPTER V. 

Settlemenïs made ky emigrants rnoM londoxderuy. — 

WINDHAM — rEÏERBOROUGH — BEDFORD — CIIERRY VALLEY — 
NOVA SCOTIA — ANTRIM — ACWORTII. 

The descendants of tlic early settlers of Londonderry, and 
those who joined tliem from Ireland, becoming nuraerous, 
furnished a large niimber of pioncers of civilization, in New 
Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. Many towns in its vi- 
cinity were settled from this colony. Windham, Chester, 
Manchester, Merrimack, Bedford, GofFstcvn, New Boston, 
Antrim, Peterborougli, Colerain, and Acworth, together with 
settlements more remote, derived from Londonderry a con- 
siderable proportion of their first inhabitants. A brief notice 
will be given of some of these settlements, derived chiefly 
from the centenary discourses which have been pnblislied 
commemorating their settlement, and from other authentic 
sources. 

W I N D II A ]\I . 

In 1742, an act to incorporate a new parish in the town- 
ship of Londonderry, by the name of Windham, passed in 
the General Assembly of the province. 

The boundaries of the parish, as described in the charter, 
are as follows : " Beginning at the dwelling-house of one 
John Ilopkins of said Londonderry, yeoman, thence running 
on a due west course to Beaver Brook, so called ; then begin- 
ning again at the said house at the place where it began 
before (so as to leave the said house to ye northward), and 
from thence to run on a due east course, till it comes to ye 
easterly line of said Londonderry; then to run as said line 



SKETCH OF WINDHAM. 181 

runs, till it comes to the southerly boundaiy of said London- 
dei'iy ; then to run to westward as the said boundary runs, 
till it comes to the said Brook, and then to run as the said 
Brook runs, until it comes to the place on the said Brook, 
where the said west line runs across the same, excej^ting 
out of these limits the polls and estates of John Archibald, 
James Clark, James Moor, John Hopkins, and John Cochran^ 
and their respective families." 

The charter provides, that " the said parish shall be and 
hereby is invested with all the powers and authorities that 
je several towns in the province are invested with," with 
the exception of the right to send a representative to the 
Assembly ; for which purpose they were to unite with the 
inhabitants of Londonderry. 

In 1750, a considerable tract of land was taken from the 
southeasterly part of Windham, and annexed to Salem. 
The town now comprises fifteen thousand seven hundred 
and forty-four acres, and, in 1840, contained nine hundred 
and twenty-six inhabitants. 

In the beginning of 1747, the Rev. William Johnston was 
installed pastor of this religious society ; and Nathaniel 
Hemphill, Samuel Kinkead, and John Kyle, w^ere ordained 
ruling elders. In July, 1752, Mr. Johnston was dismissed 
from his pastoral charge ; not, as it appears, on account of 
any disaffection of the people towards him, or of impropriety 
in his conduct, but for want of support. During his ministry, 
there was no house for public worship ; the meetings were 
usually held in barns, sometimes in private houses. In 1753, 
a meeting-house was erected in that parish, on the south side 
of Cobbett's Pond. The church and society, on aj^plication 
by their commissioner to the synod of New York and Phila- 
delphia, for a Presbyterian minister, obtained the Rev. John 
Kinkead, and a regular call having been presented to him and 
accepted, he was installed in October, 1760. Soon after, an 
addition was made to the eldership, of the following gentle- 

16 



182 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 



men, namely, John Armstrong, Samuel Campbell, David 
Gregg, John Morro^v, Samuel Morrison, Robert Hopkins, 
Gawin Armour, and John Tufts. Although Mr. Kinkead 
possessed respectable talents and acquirements as a preacher 
of the gospel, yet, not maintaining a Christian and minis- 
terial deportment, and being chargeable with immoralities, 
he soon lost the respect and confidence of his people, and 
was dismissed in April, 1765. 

Soon after the dismission of Mr. Kinkead from his pastoral 
charge, the parish presented a call to the Rev. Simon Wil- 
liams, who was ordained their pastor. December, 1766, by 
the Boston presbyteiy. He continued their minister twenty- 
seven years, and deceased November 10, 1793, aged sixty- 
four years. He was highly respected and esteemed by his 
people, and by the neighboring ministers and churches. He 
was eminent as a scholar, and opened a private academy, 
which he continued a number of years. Under his tuition, 
many young gentlemen were prepared for admission to col- 
lege, some of whom became distinguished in professional 
life. Although, during the latter part of his life. Mr. Wil- 
liams was subject at times to a partial derangement of mind, 
and to other bodily infirmities, he still continued in the dis- 
charge of the duties of the ministry, with few interruptions, 
until his death. He died beloved by the people of his charge, 
who readily cast the mantle of charity over his eccentricities 
and frailties. During his ministry, John Dinsmorc, Robert 
Park, John Anderson, William Gregg, Samuel Morrison, 
Robert Dinsmore, and Alexander McCoy, were ordained 
ruling elders in that church. 

In 1798, a new meeting-house was erected, at some dis- 
tance west from the first, and more central to the town. After 
remaining destitute of a settled ministry twelve years, the 
church and society extended a call to the Rev. Samuel 
Harris, to become their pastor. He accepted their invita- 
tion, and was ordained by the Londonderry presbytery, Oct. 



SKETCH OF PETERBOROÜGH. 183 

9, 1805. Mr. Harris's connection with tliis diurch and soci- 
ety, as their pastor, continued until 1826, when, his voice 
failing, he was dismissed by mutual consent. During his 
ministry, the following persons were at different times added 
to the session, namely, David Gregg, James Davidson, Wil- 
liam Davidson, John Davidson, Jesse And^rson, Samuel 
Davidson, J. P. Johnson, Eleazer Barrett, James W. Perkins, 
Jacob E. Evans, and David McClary. 

In April, 1828, Rev. Calvin Cutler was ordained; and he 
sustained the relation of pastor to this church until his death, 
in 1844. During his ministry, some difhculties having arisen 
in the town, in regard to the right of occupying the meeting- 
house, a new house was erected, not far from the forraer 
place of worship. Mr. Cutler ordained the following elders, 
namely, Samuel Anderson, Jacob Harris, Silas Moore, David 
Campbell, and Jonathan Cochran, in 1833 ; and Theodore 
Dinsmore, Joseph Park, Benjamin Blanchard, David A. 
Davidson, and Rei Hills, in 1843. 

November 5, 1845. Rev. Loren Thayer was ordained, 
whose pastoral connection with this church and society stiil 
continues. 

The inhabitants of Windham, who are mostly the descend- 
ants of the first settlers of Londonderry, have firmly adhered 
to the religieus principles of their fathers, to the doctrine and 
forms of the Presbyterian church, as originally established 
in Scotland, and adrainistered in this country. Not given to 
change, they have remained united and firm supporters of 
religious institutions and of gospel order. 

PETERBOROÜGH. 

The township of Peterborough was first surveyed and laid 
out by Joseph Hall, Jr., in 1737, and was granted in 1738, 
by the General Court of Massachusetts, within whose juris- 
diction it was supposed to lie, to Samuel Haywood, and 



x^ 



184 niSTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

others, who soon after transferrecl tlieir title to Jeremiah 
Gridley, John llill, Fowle and William Vassal. The first 
settlements in the town were made under purchases from 
the last-named gentlemen. 

In the year 1739, there was an inefFectual attempt to form 
a settlement in this township. Three years after, live men 
from Lunenburg, Mass., made a small clearing, which they 
were compelled to abandon in the year 1744, on account of 
the alarm of war. About the same time, another party of 
three men cleared a parcel of land in the southerly part of 
the town, but left before they had put in their seed. The 
first permanent settlement in the township was commenced 
in 1749, when, upon the close of the war, the first adventur- 
ers returned, and received large accessions to their number 
from Londonderry, Lunenburg, and other places. From 
this time the colony increased rapidly, so that in ten years it 
embraced about fifty families. All the first settlers were of 
the Scotch-Irish stock, those who came from Lunenburg 
having but a few years before emigrated from the north of 
Ireland. 

The town was incorporated January 17, 1760, and took 
its name from Peter Prescott, of Concord, Mass. The peti- 
tion for the act of incorporation is dated October 31, 1759, 
and is signed by Thomas Morrison, Jonathan Morrison, and 
Thomas Cunningham. One of the three, Jonathan Morrison, 
was the first male child born in Londonderry. 

The hardships experienced by the first settlers of this town- 
ship were severe, far more so than those now experienced 
by the pioneers in our western territories. Being recently 
from a foreign country, unaccustomed to the axe, and by no 
means acquainted with the best method of clearing away the 
timber, they were here in the midst of an unbroken forest, 
and exposed to acts of Indian cruelty. When they retired 
to their beds at night, it was under the constant apprehension 
of a midnight attack ; and when they left their dwellings to 



SKETCH OP PETERBOROUGH. 185 

cultivate their fields, it was with the same fearful forebodings. 
They were several times driven ofF by the enemy, and many 
of them almost ruined, as to thcir property ; yet, to use their 
own afFecting language, as in their petition for incorporation, 
as a town, " what little we had in the world, lay here, we 
having no whither else to go, returned to our settlement as 
soon as prudence would admit, where we have continued 
since, and cultivated a rough part of the wilderness to a 
fruitful field." 

But aside from the apprehension of danger, they surely 
had difficulties and hardships enough. Till 1751, they had 
no grist-mill, and were obliged to bring all their provisions 
upon their shonlders five and twenty miles. For many years, 
there was not a glass window in the place. Their dwellings 
were miserable huts, not a board upon or within them, till 
1751, when three frame houses were erected. The first 
meeting-house was erected in 1752, an<i for several years 
was furnished with no other seats than rough boards, laid 
loosely upon square blocks of wood. For a long period, there 
were no oxen, and still later no horses. 

The first settlers of Peterborough and their descendants, 
have exhibited the energy, courage, and patriotism, which 
distinguish the Scotch-Irish. During the war, which com- 
menced in 1755, a number of their young men enlisted in 
Rogers's company of rangers. On the 13th of March, 1758, 
a party of eight of them feil into an Indian ambuscade, near 
Lake George, and six were killed, namely, John Stewart, 
Robert McNee, John Dinsmoor, Charles McCoy, David 
Wallace, and William Wilson. Alexander Robbe and 
Samuel Cunningham, escaped. 

The inhabitants of Peterborough engaged with zeal in the 
struggle for independence. Twenty-two from that town 
were present at the battle of Bunker Hill, although but 
seventeen were actually engaged in the conflict. Seventeen 
days before the Declaration of Independence, the foUowing 

16* 



186 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

resolution was signed by eighty-three able-bodied men, of 
that town, as an expression of " their determination in join». 
ing their American brethren in arms, in defending the lives, 
liberties, and properties of the United Colonies." 

" We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and 
promise, that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the 
risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms, oppose the hos- 
tile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the 
United Colonies." 

This pledge, given not long after the comraencement of 
hostilities, was nobly redeemed. Few if any towns furnished 
a greater number of soldiers during the revolutionary war, 
in proportion to the number of inhabitants, than Peter- 
borough. There was not a man in the town who favored 
the British cause. 

The first school taught in the town was commenced by 
Mr. John Ferguson. The first representative was deacon 
Samuel Moore, elected in 1775. William Smith, Esq., was 
delegated to the Provincial Congress in 1774. The first 
person commissioned as a justice of the peace, in Peter- 
borough, w^as Hugh Wilson, Esq., a respectable magistrate. 

A subject of no little interest in the history of this town is 
its manufacturing establishments. In 1780, a clothier's shop, 
for taking in avooI to card and cloth to dress, was built, and 
was the only factory in town until 1793, when an impulse 
was given to the manufacturing enterprise of the place by 
Mr. Samuel Smith, who erected a large building for mechan- 
ical purposes. This turned the attention of the people to the 
valuable water privileges in the town. In 1810, the first 
cotton factory was put in operation ; since which time sev- 
eral cotton and other factories have been established. It 
was estimated in 1839, that the amount of property vested 
in the various water privileges was three hundred thousand 
dollars; that the cotton factories produced annually one 
millioa seven hundred and twenty-five thousand yards of 



SKETCH OP PETERBOROUGH. 187 

cloth ; and tliat the amount of property imported and sold, 
in the various stores in the town, was not less than seventy- 
five thousand dollars. 

The population of the town, according to the census of 
1830, was one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four; and 
according to the census of 1840, it was two thousand one 
hundred and sixty-three. 

The early ecclesiastical history of Peterborough is far 
from favorable. The church, as originally organized, was 
Presbyterian. The gentlemen first separated to the office 
of elders, were William McNee, AYilliam Smith, Samuel 
Moore, and Samuel Mitchel. They were consecrated by 
Rev. Robert Annan, of Boston, in 1778, and they all 
" adorned their profession, and died in faith." A Presby- 
terian minister, by the name of Johnston, came with the first 
settlers and remained with them about a year. The desk 
was supplied for a time by Rev. Mr. Harvey, and in the 
year 1764 by Rev. Mr. Powers. 

The first settled minister in the town was Rev. John Mor- 
rison. He was born at Pathfoot, in Scotland, in 1743, and 
was of a family distinct from that of the Morrisons who were 
among the first settlers of the town. He was graduated at 
Edinburgh, in 1765, arrived at Boston the May following, 
and was ordained at Peterborough, November 26, 1766. 
Although he was possessed of more than ordinary talent, he 
soon proved to be intemperate and licentious. His conduct 
after a time became so scandalous that a presbytery was 
held, and he was suspended for a time from his office. He 
relinquished his connection with the society in March, 1772, 
visited South Carolina, returned and joined the American 
army, at Cambridge, in 1775. He soon after went over to 
the British, and remained with them till his death, which 
took place at Charleston, S. C, in 1782. He became a pro- 
fessed atheist, and died an abandoned profligate. 

In October, 1778, Mr. David Annan, having received a 



188 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

call, was ordained for Peterborougli, hy the presbytery, which 
met at Wallkill, N. J. He was a brother of Robert Annan, 
wlio was for a time pastor of Federal Street cliurch, in 
Boston, was born at Cupar of Fife, in Scotland, April 4, 
1754, and came to America when young. He received his 
education at New Brunswick College, N. J. In 1792, the 
pastoral connection of Mr. Annan with the society in Peter- 
borough was dissolved, at his request, by the presbytery of 
Londonderry. He was by the same presbytery deposed 
from the ministry, in 1800, and died in Ireland, in 1802. 
Mr. Annan possessed respectable talents, and might easily 
have retained the confidence of his people. But his intem- 
perate habits, his licentious and corrupt conversation, and 
his haughty, overbearing demeanor, at length deprived him 
of their respect and regard. So brutal was his treatment of 
his wife, who was an estimable woman, that she was some- 
times compelled to pass the whole night, with her children, 
in the woods ; and she finally obtained a bill of divorce, on 
the ground of extreme cruelty. Mr. Morrison and Mr. 
Annan were the only settled ministers in the place for fifty 
years. 

" The question," says the Rev. J. H. Morrison, in his cen- 
tenary address, " How could religion be kept alive under such 
circumstances, is readily answered. Our people were always 
readers, and the Bible was almost their only book. Here 
they went for counsel and support. It was to them prophet 
and priest. With all their reverence for the public minis- 
trations of religion, their reverence for the written word 
was far greater. In the next place, the practice of fomily 
prayer was faithfully observed. Morning and evening the 
Scriptures were read ; and if the flame of devotion burned 
dim in the house of public worship, it was not permitted to 
go out upon the family altar." 

After the dismission of Mr. Annan, a call was given to 
Rev. Z. S. Moore, but it was declined, and the town con- 



SKETCH OF PETERBOROUGH. 189 

tinued without a minister iintil October 23, 1799, when Rev. 
Elijah Dunbar was ordained. The church had originally 
belonged to the Londonderry presbytery, but at the settle- 
meiit of Mr. Annan, at his request, it was dismissed from. 
the Londonderry presbytery, and united with the New York 
presbytery. When Mr. Dunbar was settled, that presbytery 
had become extinct, and the church, being left an indepen- 
dent body, adopted the Congregational form. As there were 
many who were still attached to the Presbyterian mode, it 
was arranged that once a year the communion should be 
adniinistered by a Presbyterian, in the Presbyterian manner. 
Tliis service was for many years performed by Rev. Wil- 
liam Morrison, of Londonderry. In 1822, a portion of the 
people who had never been pleased with the Congregational 
form, and others who had never been quite at ease under an 
Arminian preacher, withdrew, and formed a Presbyterian 
society. Mr. Dunbar retained his pastoral connection with 
the Congregational society, until February, 1827. He was 
succeeded in June, of the same year, by Abiel Abbot, D. D., 
who is still the pastor. The present number of communi- 
cants in this church, who are residents in the town, is sixty- 
eight. 

The Presbyterian society erected a meeting-house in 
1825, and, in 1827, Rev. Peter Holt was installed their 
pastor. Li March, 1835, Mr. Holt resigned his office as 
pastor of this society, and Rev. Mr. Pine was installed the 
next year, and was dismissed in January, 1837. Rev. Joshua 
Barret was stated supply from February, 1837, to February, 
1839. Rev. James R. French was ordained pastor, March 
18, 1840, and was dismissed in April, 1847. The present 
pastor, Rev. Henry J. Lamb, was ordained July 14, 1847. 
The present number of members in this church is one 
hundred and seventy-five. 

A Baptist church was constituted November, 1822, con- 
sisting of forty members, and the first pastor was Rev. 



190 HISTORY OP LONDONDERRY. 

Charles Cummings. Rev. Mr. Goodnow commenced liis 
labors with tliis church in June, 1831. Rev. George Daland 
was the pastor from March, 1834, until 1836. Rev. John 
Peacock commenced preaching September, 1837, and re- 
mained one year. Rev. J. M. Wilmarth was settled Sept., 
1838, and was dismissed March, 1840. Rev. Zebulon Jones 
was the pastor from April, 1840, to November, 1843. Rev. 
A. Brown commenced preaching Jan., 1844, and remained 
one year. Rev. Sherborn Dearborn commenced his labors 
in September, 1845, and was dismissed August, 1847. The 
present pastor, Rev. J. M. Chick, was settled December, 
1847. The number of resident members in this church at 
the present time is eighty-three. 

There has been in this town for several years a Methodist 
church, which now contains seventy-eight members. 

To the foregoing historical sketch of Peterborough, the 
following item, from the Boston Evening Traveller, is 
appended, in the belief that it will not be uninteresting : — 

NEW HAMPSHIRE IN OLD TIMES. 

The oldest son of New Hampshire who attended the 
grand festival, on Wednesday, was our fellow-citizen, Mr. 
Samuel Gregg, of 18 Leverett Street. He was born in 
Peterborough, N. H., in 1772, and has resided in Boston 
constantly for the last half-century. Among the first settlers 
in his native town were his mother and father. The latter, 
subsequcntly known as Major Samuel Gregg, was a native 
of Londonderry. Joining, at the early age of seventeen, the 
English army in the old French war, he was at the capture 
of Louisburg, and on the plains of Abraham, with the brave 
General Wolfe, whose great victory there united the Cana- 
das to the British empire. When the Revolution broke out, 
he refused to act under his commission of lieutenant in the 
king's service, took up arms for his countrymen, and with 
his wife, who was born in Haverhill, Mass., staked all for 



SKETCH OF PETERBOROÜGH. 191 

the cause of independence. The following, related a few 
hours since bj their son, the present Samuel Gregg, and the 
oldest person at the dinner on Wednesday, will give some 
idea of the necessities and toils of some of the first founders 
of the Granite State. " My parents planted themselves in 
Peterborough," remarked Mr. Gregg, "about one hundred 
years ago, on the banks of the Contoocook. At that period 
there was not a settler, nor a single improvement, between 
their house and Canada ; and it was years afterwards, before 
they had one neighhor ; and for a long time but one, between 
them on the north and the boundaries of that province. On 
a cold winter's day, my mother threw on her cloak of scarlet 
cloth, such as the great-great-grandmothers of the rising 
generation were then accustomed to wear, and with her 
husband, went out upon the ice down the Contoocook, to see 
the family of their nearest northern neighbor, in Antrim, 
twelve miles off by land, and some fifteen by the river. 
They arrived about noon, but found their neighbor, Mr. 
James Aiken, had gone with his wife to make a call on 
some of their relatives, twenty-five or thirty miles distant at 
the east. Miss Aiken, their little daughter, then about 
twelve years old, made a cup of tea for my mother, after 
which, the two disappointed travellers retraced their steps, 
over the ice to their dwelling, which they reached in the 
evening. That night there feil a rain so heavy as to break 
up the frozen stream ; and had they not returned as they 
did, they could not have reached home for less than four or 
five weeks, as there were no roads, and the snow was three 
or four feet deep in the woods. In those days, there was not 
a cart nor a vehicle on wheels, nor a highway, in the whole 
town of Peterborough ; and my ancestor was obliged to take 
his grain four miles to mill, and bring the meal back upon a 
rude car, composed of poles, fastened lengthwise to a cross- 
piece, the front being elevated by the oxen, and the rear 
drawn over the ground, somewhat like a sled." 



192 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 



BEDFORD 



A settlement was commenced in Bedford in the year 1737 
by a few individuals from Londonderry, among whom were 
Robert and James Walker, Jolni Goffe, Matthew Patten, 
and Capt. Samuel Patten. These individuals settled near 
the bank of the Merrimack river. They were soon foliowed 
by many others, so that, in 1750, the town which had been 
called Souhegan East, or Narraganset, No. 5, was ineorpo- 
rated under its present name, and with its present limits, its 
territory originally extending south to Souhegan river. 

As might be expected from a people of sucli an origin, 
they made early provision for the institution of the gospel. 
In 1750, the town gave a call to Rev. Alexander Boyd, and 
soon after to Rev. Messrs. Alexander McDowell, and Sam- 
uel McClintock; but in each case without success. A 
meeting-house was raised in 1755, but not fully finished 
until some years after. 

On Sept. 28, 1757, Rev. John Houston was ordained pastor 
of the church, which was organized in the Presbyterian order. 
Rev. Mr. True of Hampstead, ofFercd the prayer ; Rev. Mr. 
Parsons of Newbury, preached the sermon ; Rev. David Mac- 
Gregor of Londonderry, gave the charge ; Rev. Mr. True 
gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Mr. White of 
Gloucester, concluded with prayer. 

James Little, James Gilmore, Benjamin Smith, and Wil- 
liam Moor, constituted the first board of elders. 

About this time, sundry inhabitants of Merrimack, who 
had removed to that town from Londonderry, united for a 
number of years with the inhabitants of Bedford, probably 
from preference for the Presbyterian form of government. 
Mr. Houston continued to fill the office of minister in Bedford, 
till 1775. This town partook largely of the patriotic feeling 
that prevailed at this time throughout the country, and many 
of its citizcns engaged in the dangers and hardships of the 



SKETCH OF BEDFORD. 193 

revolntionary war. Tlieir minister differed from the great 
body of the people, in his views of public affairs, and on this 
account he ceased preaching, and in 1778 his pastoral con- 
nection was dissolved by act of the presbytery. 

Eev. Mr. Houston was educated at Princeton, N. J., where 
he took his degree in 1753 ; he studied divinity with the 
Rev. David MacGregor of Londonderry. He was consid- 
ered a sound, orthodox divine, and a man of considerable 
native and acquired talent, but somewhat deficiënt as a public 
sj)eaker. He was a conscientious and good man. He was 
born in Londonderry, and died in Bedford, 1798, aged 75. 
For a long j)eriod after the dismissal of Mr. Houston, the 
town was destitute of a settled ministry. The people were 
supplied with preaching part of the year, but, with a single 
exception, by no one individual for any length of time. Rev. 
William Pickles, from Wales, England, preached for a time, 
as a stated supply. He was a man of very popular talents, 
but his habits and general deportment were sucli as to dis- 
honor his sacred profession. His influence was unfavorable 
to the cause of vital piety. As might be expected in such a 
state of things, the ordinances of religion were neglected, 
divisions arose, and the interests of piety declined. But 
during this long period of nearly thirty years, the watchful 
providence of God surrounded the church, through seasons 
of peril, and preserved it from becoming extinct. 

On Sept. 5, 1804, Rev. David MacGregor, a native of Lon- 
donderry, was ordained to the pastoral charge of the church 
and congregation in Bedford. The religious aspect of things 
now began to change. The church as a body became more 
regular and consistent, additions were yearly made to tlieir 
number, and the cause of piety and benevolence advanced 
with a steady progress. 

Li April, 1825, the pastoral relation, subsisting between 
Mr. MacGregor and the church, was, by mutual consent, 
dissolved by act of presbytery. Mr. MacGregor received 

17 



194 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

his education at Dartmouth College, -vvliere he took liig 
degree in 1799. Ile studied divinity with Rev. Dr. Mor- 
rison of Londonderry. His ministry, it is believed, was 
greatly blessed. He removed to Falmouth, Maine, where 
he is engaged in the business of instruction. 

The present pastor, Rev. Thomas Savage, was installed 
over the church and people July 5, 1826. 

The old meeting-house having been occupied for the wor- 
ship of God from generation to generation for nearly eighty 
years, and having become unsuitable for a place of worship^ 
a new house was erected, and solemnly dedicated to the 
service of God, December 25, 1832. The church has shared 
with other churches in spiritual blessings ; and since the 
settlement of the present pastor, two hundred and seventy- 
two have been added by profession. 

CHERRY VALLET. 

In the year 1741, an emigration of a nuraber of families to 
the valley of the Mohawk, west of the Hudson river, took 
place under the foUowing circumstances. A patent of a 
territory now called Cherry Valley, containing eight thou- 
sand acres of land, lying about ten miles south of the Mohawk 
river, and fifty-two west from Albany, was granted to John 
Lindesay, a Scotch gentleman of some distinction, and three 
ethers. At that time, with very few exceptions, the whole 
country west of Cherry Valley, reaching on to the Pacific 
ocean, was one unbroken wilderness. The whole country 
called the Great West, the vast Valley of the Mississippi, 
was almost an unknown land. Attracted by the beauty of 
the scenery, the wild and romantic features of the country, 
nbt unlike his native Scotland, Mr. Lindesay, the principal 
patentee, witll his family, took up his abode in this place in 
the summer of 1740. An Indian footpath ouly afforded him 
communication with the Mohawk river. 

The winter which foliowed was one of great severity. 



SKETCH OF CHERRY VALLET. 195 

Long ere spring revisited tlie Valley, liis provisions were 
«exliausted. The great depth of snow entirely interrupted 
liis intercourse with the settlements of the Mohawk. He 
realized in their greatest extent the dangers and trials of a 
borderer. A lingering death by starvation was before him. 
At this critical period, an ludian arrived from the Mohawk, 
on snow-shoes. The Indian returned, at the solicitation of 
Mr. Lindesay, and procured provisions, which he carried on 
his back to the distressed emigrants, and thus saved the lives 
of the first family which settled in Cherry Valley. 

About the time of his settlement, Mr. Lindesay became 
acquainted with the Rev. Samiiel Dunlop, a nativeof Ireland, 
and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin ; and induced him 
by liberal offers to aid the settlement, through his influence 
with his countrymen at home and in this country. He con- 
sented, and having gone to Ireland and married, he returned 
with his wife and a few families. From New York he came 
immediately to Londonderiy, where his countrymen had 
settled twenty years before, and which had now become a 
thriving town. By his representations of the tract of terri- 
tory offered for settlement on the most favorable terms, a 
number of persons from Londonderry were persuaded to 
remove to Cherry Valley. David Eamsay, William Gault, 
James Campbell, William Dickson, and others, with their 
families, in all about thirty persons, accompanied him to that 
then remote and exposed settlement, and laid the foundation 
of a thriving colony. 

One of the first movements of this little band, was the 
organization of a church under the pastoral charge of Mr. 
Dunlop, and the erection of a rude edifice of logs, in which 
they assembled to worship the God of their fathers. In his 
own house. Mr. Dunlop opened a classical school, and there 
educated some young ^ men, who afterwards, and especially 
during the Revolution, acted conspicuous parts. It is worthy 
of especial remembrance, that in this Valley, and principally 



196 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

by individuals from Loridonderry, tlie first regular society 
was organized for religioiis worshij) in the Englisli language, 
and the first classical school established in central or western 
New York. 

The conduct of these emigrants from Ireland, in the estab- 
lishment of churches and schools, is the best evidence of the 
spirit with which the foundations of their settlements were 
laid. Virtue and knowledge, the two great pillars of repub- 
lican institutions, were uniformly the object of their pursuit. 
Thus did this colony seek to plant in the very centre of the 
wilderness, the seeds of Christianity and civilization. Their 
numbers were small, their means were limited, but their aim 
was noble, and their enterprise ultimately successful. 

Settlements were not tlien, as riow, thrown forward with 
such rapidity that a frontier hamlet of to-day becomes a city, 
with a densely peopled country around it, to-morrow. On 
the contrary, the encroachments upon the wilderness, and 
upon the home of the red man, previous to the Revolution, 
were made slowly, and with great caution, and the increase 
of these frontier settlements was very slow; so that in 1752, 
twelve years after the first settlement of Cherry Yalley, 
there were but eight families in the place. In 1765, they 
had increased to forty families. The slow increase of this 
and other frontier settlements, was owing in a great degree 
to the long and bloody wars between England and France 
during this period. The battle-field was transferred from 
Europe to America, and the contest fpr national supremacy 
was maintained with renewed vigor amid the forest homes of 
our fathers, and upon their inland seas. ]Most of the Indian 
tribes at the north, allured away by the French Jesuits, and 
by the liberal jDresents of the French monarch, took up the 
hatcliet against the English and Americans. Hence the 
frontier inhabitants were kept under constant apprehension ; 
and though the settlement of Cherry Yalley escaped destruc- 
tion, yet the inhabitants were called into service, and ex- 



SKETCH OF CHERRY VALLET. 197 

changed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture for the exeite- 
nients and dangers of the camp, and were engaged in distant 
and hazardous expeditions. 

When the war of the Revokition commenced, Cherry 
Valley was still a frontier settlement, and its citizens early 
embraced the colonial cause. This region seems early in the 
progress of the war to have been marked out for destruc- 
tion, and the settlement of Cherry Valley, after repeated 
alarms, was destined to share the common fate of the frontier 
hamlets of New York. The llth of November, 1778, has 
been rendered memorable by the sacrifices, and sufiferings? 
and death of many of the early settlers of this Valley. On 
this day, the place was attacked by the savage foe. Between 
thirty and forty of the inhabitants were killed ; others were 
retained as hostages, or prisoners, to be borne away through 
the wilderness to take up their abode with the savages, and 
to suffer a tedious and dreadful captivity. All the houses 
in the place were burned, and the inhabitants who escaped 
' abandoned the settlement. This destruction of the settle- 
ment closed the revolutionary drama at Cherry Valley. 
At the close of the Bevolution, and when peace was once 
more restored, the remnant of the inhabitants returned to 
their former homes ; but war, and disease, and poverty had 
done their fearful work ; and many a onc§ familiar face was 
never again seen around the domestic hearth. 

In 1784, a few log-houses were built by the inhabitants 
who had returned to their former homes. The long and 
bloody war through which they had passed had thinned their 
ranks, and whitened the heads and furrowed the cheeks of 
the survivors. They had once more a home, but it was 
again a forest home. A few log-huts had been built, but 
there was no building in the settlement wliere the inhabitants 
could assemble together. They met, therefore, like their 
fathers, under the open heavens. The place where they gath- 
ered was hallowed ground. It had been set apart for the burial 

17* 



198 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

of tlieir clead. The graves of tlieir kinclrecl and friends were 
round about tliem. It was the pUice which had been conse- 
crated by their patriotism, for there stood their little fort. 
The inhabitants being assembled on this spot, organized 
anew, on the 5th day of April, 1785, that Presbyterian 
society which has continued to this day. Their beloved 
pastor, Rev. Samuel Dunlop, whom many of them had fol- 
iowed to this place, was gone. He had rainistered for nearly 
forty years to the early settlers. At the time of the mas- 
sacre, his family were slain. He alone with one danghter 
escaped. Under the protection of an Indian chief, he stood 
and beheld the destruction of his earthly hopes, his home 
and the homes of his friends melting away with the flames. 
He survived the massacre but a short time. The misfortunes 
of that day, carried down his grey hairs with sorrow to the 
grave. 

The first regular pastor over the newly organized society 
was the Rev. Dr. Nott, now president of Union College. 
The population soon increased, and numbers of the desccnd- 
ants of the little band who went out from Londonderry, and 
there fixed their abode, still reside in that Yalley, while 
otliers have contributed to swell that western tide which is 
spreading its population over more distant portions of the 
land. Among these, many in the various pursuits of life, 
and in the learned professions, have been distinguished for 
character and usefulness. 

Of the first settlers, the late Col. Samuel Campbell was 
the last survivor. He was a true patriot and an excel- 
lent citizen. He served in the French war, and was Avith 
Sir William Johnson at Fort Edward, in 1757, at the time 
of the massacre at Fort William Hcnry. Duriug the stormy 
period of the Revolution he was an active and eüicient friend 
of his country, and, at its close, found himself stripped of most 
of his property. At the massacre and conflagration of the 
town, his family, with the exception of himself and his eldest 



SKETCH OF CHEIITIY VALLEY. 199 

son, were taken and carried into captivity. His wife and 
children were for a long time detained as prisoners among 
the Indians in Canada, but were at length exchanged. Again 
Mr. Campbell commenced his laborious life, and lived to see 
a large and prosf)eroiis family around him. He was born in 
Londondeny, and was three years old when his father re- 
moved from that place. He closed his eventful life in 1824, 
at the age of eighty-six. Others, descendants of these 
settlers, are mentioned with honor by the historian of this 
settlement ; as Col. Samuel Clyde, John Moor, Robert Mc- 
Kean, the Gaults, the Dicksons, the Ramseys, and Wilsons, 
names familiar to the natives of Londonderry. They were 
sterling men, with strong and vigorous intellects, and tried 
principles. They have all been indeed gathered to their 
resting-places, and the clods of the valley are over them, to 
be removed only at the general resurrection, but they have 
left their impression on the community, the foundation of 
which they there laid. 

The foUowing incident was related a few years since to a 
gentleman from Londonderry, who visited Cherry Yalley, by 
Mrs. Clyde, tlien living in the place. 

At the time of the massacre, to which we have referred, 
Samuel Clyde, a native of Windham, N. H., and his wife, 
whose maiden name was Thornton of Londonderry, with a 
young family, resided about a mile west of the main settlement. 
They were aroused in the night by the sound of musketry 
and the shouts of Lidians. Mr. Clyde seized his gun and 
proceeded to the defence of the settlement. Mrs. Clyde, with 
an infant but two Aveeks old, and several small children, fled 
to the woods. The snow falling fast at the time, providen- 
tially covered their tracks. Having found a secreted place 
in a thicket, she lay down with her little ones on the snow 
and was soon covered by it, some inches deep. In this situa- 
tion, she passed the dreary night, and could distinctly liear the 
dying shrieks of the slaughtered inhabitants, mingled with the 



200 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

slioiits of tlie murderous savage. The husband haviiig escaped, 
returned in the morning to his dweiling, "vvhich, thougli spared 
from the flaines that had consumed the settlement, was desert- 
ed hy his family. By the aid of neighbors, and the sounding 
of horns, his wife and children were at lengtli discovered, and 
returned to their habitation, the snow having afforded them 
security and a covering. " And now," said the venerable 
woman, " I am eighty-four years old, and the infant of two 
weeks, then at my breast, is this my son, Col. Clyde, just 
returned from the State convention at Albany, and this my 
elder son, Esquire Clyde, can attest from memory to the 
truth of the statement." 

NOVA SCOTIA. 

About the year 1760, a number of families emigrated from 
Londonderry to Nova Scotia, and settled in Truro, soon 
after its evacuation by the French. Among these first set- 
tlers, were James, Thomas, Samuel, and David Archibald 
(brothers), Matthew Taylor, who married a sister of the 
Archibalds, and William Fisher ; Samuel Fisher, a nephew 
of William, joined the company a few years afterwards. 
Other emigrants foliowed from time to time. Their descend- 
ants became numerous and respectable, and settled in the 
surrounding towns ; as Pictou, Stewiacke, Musquodobit, and 
St. Mary's. We have been able to obtain no particular 
Information respecting this colony, except it be in reference 
to the Archibald and Fisher families. 

William Fisher, senior, was a highly respectable and 
useful man. He represented the township of Truro in the 
General Assembly held in the province. Several of the Archi- 
balds are somewhat distinguished as having held important 
public offices. David Archibald, Ist, was magistrate and major 
in the militia ; while his sons Robert and Samuel surveyed 
the township, and were the principal managers in its settle- 
ment ; one of whom was not only a magistrate, but a judge 



EMIGRATION TO NOVA SCOTIA. 201 

of tlie court. No less than eigliteen of this name, descend- 
ants of the first settlers wlio went from this town, have held 
high and responsible situations in the several departments of 
government ; as magistrates, representatives, judges, and 
military officers. 

Samuel G. W. Archibald, LL. D., son of Samuel, and 
grandson of David, the first settler, was first Jiidge of Pro- 
bate, then member and speaker of the General Assembly, 
then attorney-general, and governor of King's College, and 
then Judge of the Court of Admiralty, and Master of the 
Rolls. He was, without dispute, considered the greatest 
politieian and the most talented public speaker which the 
province ever produced. He has three sons, who are bar- 
risters ; one a director of the Commercial Bank, London ; 
another, attorney-general of Newfoundland. 

The Archibalds of Nova Scotia are generally not only 
people of respectable standing in society, but a very large 
proportion of the adults are consistent and zealous professors 
and supporters of religion. The same may be said of most 
of the emigrants from this town to that place, and of their 
descendants. More uniformly than almost any other of the 
colonies from Londonderry, have they adliered, not only to 
the principles, but to the religious order of their ancestors.* 
They are, almost without an exception, Presbyterian, and 
maintain in their public worship many of the forms practised 
in Scotland and Ireland by their fathers. They have never 
admitted any change in their sacred psalmody. The psalms 
of David, in their most literal translation, are used in their 
worship ; in the singing of which the congregation unite. 

Sucli has been the influence of this first colony in that 
province, that a greater portion of the churches in the sev- 
eral townships are Presbyterian. 



202 HISTORY OF LONDONDEREY. 



ANTRIM. 

The first settlement within the present limits of Antrim, 
was made by Phihp Rily, in 1744, who in company with his 
family, after a resiclence of two years, abandoned their hab- 
itation through fear of an Indian attack. They did not 
return till 1761, after an absence of fifteen years. An ad- 
vertisement by the Masonian proprietors, in 1766, inviting 
young men to view the lands on Contoocook river, induced 
six young men from Londonderry to visit the place that 
year. They were pleased with the lands, and made some 
small clearings. The next year, August, 1767, James Aiken, 
afterwards Deacon Aiken, removed his family to that place, 
into a little cabin, which he had built at the time of his first 
visit. He was one of the six who had previously visited the 
place, and expected soon to be foliowed by his associates ; 
but on learning that the proprietors would not give them 
each a lot of land, three of them abandoned the enterprise, 
and the other two did not come till some years afterwards. 
Deacon Aiken suffered many privations. His nearest neigh- 
bor on the west, was at Walpole. William Smith removed 
•his family there in 1771, and was foliowed the next year by 
Randal Alexander, John Gordon, and Maurice Lynch. John 
Duncan, Esq., removed with his family to Antrim, Sept., 
1773, making the seventh in the place. Within the three suc- 
ceeding years the foUowing persons made settlements there : 
Alexander Jameson, James Duncan, Joseph Boyd, Matthew 
Templeton, James Dickey, Daniel McFarland, James 
McAlister, James and Samuel Moor, Thomas Stuart, 
Robert Burns, and David McClary, all from Londonderry, 
or its vicinity. 

April, 1775, brought the alarm of the battle at Lexington. 
Although the whole population amounted to only one hun- 
dred and seventy-seven souls, yet a company of sixteen men, 



SKETCH OF ANTRI3I. 203 

raised and commanded by Captain Duncan, marched the 
next morning for the scène of action, foliowed by Captain 
Smith, with a load of provisions, one man only remaining in 
town. At Tyngsborough, they were met by General Stark, 
who warmly commended their patriotism, but informed 
them that there were men enough under arms near Boston, 
and advised them to return, plant their corn, and wait till 
their services became indispensable. 

The first sermon preached in the place was delivered 
September, 1775, by Rev. Mr. Davidson of Londonderry, in 
Deacbn Aiken's barn. 

James and Samuel Moor built a grist-mill in 1776, on the 
North Branch, now known as Wallace Mills. This was a 
great accommodation to the inhabitants. The same season, 
James Aiken and Joseph Boyd erected a saw-mill where 
Johnson's Mills now stand. 

The town was incorporated March 22, 1777, in compli- 
ance with a petition from.the inhabitants, and called Antrim, 
after the county of that name in Ireland, whence the ances- 
tors of some of the first settlers had emigrated to London- 
derry. It had at the time twenty-three freeholders, a few 
of whom were single men, who paid one shilling each toward 
the expense of the corporation. In the autumn of this year, 
several of the inhabitants marched at different times to the 
westward, some of whom fought in the battle of Bennington, 
under General Stark. A still larger number were present 
at the surrender of the British army, under General Bur- 
goyne. 

Within three years succeeding the date of the incorpora- 
tion of the town, a considerable nmnber of additional families 
established themselves there, among whom were Daniel 
Nichols, Jonathan Nesmith, Samuel and Benjamin Gregg, 
Daniel Miltimore, James Carr, Tristram Cheney, James and 
Samuel Dinsmore, William McDole, William Boyd, John 
Gilmore, and James Steele. 



204 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



Prior to 1778 there had been no preaching in the town, 
except for a few Sabbaths bj neighboring ministers, gratui- 
tously. At the March meeting in that year, thirty-two 
dollars were voted, and in July twenty more, for the support 
of preaching. From this time the people procured some 
supply of ministerial service each year, as they feit able. 
They placed a high value on Christian institutions, and made 
sj^irited efForts to sustain them. A school of twelve scholars, 
the first one kept in town, was tauglit by John Dinsmore, at 
Deacon Aiken's, in the winter of 1778-9. 

In August, 1780, the town voted an invitation to Mr. James 
Miltimore, of Londonderry, to become their pastor, with a 
salary of two hundred and thirty-three dollars and a lot of 
land. Mr. Miltimore declined the invitation, and afterwards 
became minister, first of Stratham, and then of a parish 
in Newbury, Mass. He however continued to preach in 
Antrim a few Sabbaths each year, till 1783. 

The first meeting-house was raised June 28, 1785. Col. 
William Gregg, of Londonderry, celebrated for the distin- 
guished part lie bore at the battle of Bennington, was the 
master-workman. The house was not completed till 1791. 
Prior to this time, religious meetings had been held chiefly 
in barns, and town meetings in private houses. The first 
store of foreign goods in the place was opened in 1787, by 
Ebenezer Kimball. 

In 1788, measures were taken for the organization of a 
church. At a legal town meeting held early this year, the 
town, in consideration of their destitute state, as to religious 
ordinances, appointed an agent to attend the next session of 
the presbytery of Londonderry, at Peterborough, and request 
them to organize a church here. That body appointed the 
Rev. William Morrison, of Londonderry, to visit the place 
for this purpose. He went, accordingly, and oi'ganized, 
August 3, a Presbyterian church, consisting of about sixty- 
five members. Three persons were then elected ruling 



SKETCH OF ANTRIM. 203 

elders by the congregation. In August following, the sacra- 
jneiit of the Lord's supper was adrainistered by the Rev. Mr* 
Morrisoii, for the first time in this place. 

Several attempts were afterwards made to settle a minis- 
ter, but unsuccessfully till 1800, when Mr. Walter Little was 
ordained as pastor of the church. He remained but four 
years, being dismissed in 1804. The people were then des- 
titute of a stated minister till September 28, 1808, when the 
Rev. John M. Whiton, the present pastor, was ordained. 
The church consisted at this period of about one hundred 
and twenty-seven resident members, and had twelve elders, 
nine having been added to the original number, soon after 
the ordination of Mr. Little. During thirty years succeed- 
ing the Rev. Mr. Whiton's connection with the church, three 
hundred and thirty-eight persons were added. 

The spotted fever made its appearance in the town Feb., 
1812, and spread with such rapidity that, in two months, 
there were two hundred cases, and about forty deaths. 

In 1816, there was an increased attention to religion. The 
work was silent and gradual, continued two years, and was 
lasting and happy in its effects ; more tlian fifty persons, as 
the result, were added to the church. 

In 1826, a new meeting-house was erected. It was dedi- 
cated on the fifteenth of November. Several citizens in the 
east part of the town, dissatisfied with the location of the 
new house of worship, united with others in Deering and 
Society Land, and built, the same year, the East meeting- 
house. 

The year 1827 was distinguished by a remarkable atten- 
tion to religion, and resul ted in the addition of one hundred 
persons to the Presbyterian church. 

Several persons, natives of this town, have received a 
collegiate education, and have been distinguished in their 
several professions. The first was John Nichols, missionary 

18 



206 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

to India. He died near Bombay, 1824, liaving been for 
seven years a devoted laborer among the heathen. 

The fathers, where are they ? Alas ! none of the first 
settlers, and but few of the first generation, remain. " But 
few of the countenances," said the beloved pastor of this 
people, in his anniversary discourse, in 1838, " that appeared 
in our sanctuary thirty years ago, are now to be seen. There 
has risen up here, generally speaking, a new church and a 
new congregation. The exit of our predecessors reminds us 
that to us death and judgment are approaching. Our only 
ark of refuge is Christ." 



A C W O R T H . 

The original church, now the Presbyterian church in 
Derry, formed by the first company of settlers, may be 
justly regarded as the hive from which have gone forth the 
swarms which have formed the other churches in the pres- 
bytery. It also contributed to the organization of other 
churches, more remote, which in consequence of their situ- 
ation, became Congregational in their form of government. 
Among these were Acworth in this State, and Coleraine, Ms. 

Acworth received its charter in 1766, being in the sixth 
year of the reign of George the Third, though it was not 
perraanently settled until the summer of 1768. In this year, 
three families, Samuel Harper, William Keyes, and John 
Rodgers, with some other individuals, principally from Lon- 
donderry, effected a permanent settlement. The year aft er, 
some families came in from Windham, and Ashford, Conn. 
The first town-meeting was held March 12, 1771. 

As the settlement of the town took place at the time of the 
commencement of the difTiculties which brought on the Amer- 
ican Revolution, its advancement in wealth and population 
•was very mucli retarded. The oj^pression of those days was 
feit in every nook and corner of the land. No man at that 



SKETCH OP ACWORTH. 207 

day could for any length of time sit quietly uncler his own 
vine and fig-tree. War was in the land, and all the available 
strength was needed to answer its demands. After the Rev- 
olution, additional families removed from Londonderry to 
this town, 

The present Congregational church was organized March 
12, 1773. On that raemorable day, which was observed 
with fasting and prayer, the little Christian band was formed, 
consisting of eight souls. The ministers who assisted were 
Rev. Bulkley Olcott and Rev. George Wheaton. The plan 
of church government, which was adopted in 1781, and is 
found highly conducive in its practical results to the inter- 
«sts of the church, combines a mixture of the Congregational 
and Presbyterian systems. 

Rev. Thomas Archibald, of Londonderry, was ordained 
over this people November 11, 1789. The church at this 
time contained fifty-eight members. During his ministry, 
which continued four years, ten were added to the church, 
He was dismissed June 14, 1794 The town was destitute 
of a minister at this time just three years. Rev. John Kim- 
ball became the pastor of this people June 14, 1797. The 
church then contained about sixty members. During his 
ministry, which continued sixteen years, sixty-four were 
added to the church. By mutual consent, he was dismissed 
May 4, 1813. 

Rev. Phineas Cook was ordained their pastor September 
7, 1814. The church at this time contained about seventy 
members. At the end of three years, the church increased 
to two hundred and twelve. In 1821, a new and commodious 
meeting-house was built in that town. In March, 1829, Rev. 
Mr. Cook was dismissed from his charge in this place, and 
soon after installed over the Congregational church in 
Lebanon, N. H. Rev. Moses Grosvenor was settled over 
this church and society, October 14, 1829, and was dismissed 
April 25, 1832, Rev. Joseph Merrill was settled October 



208 HISTORY OF LONDONDERKY. 

16, 1833, and was dismissed July 11, 1838. Rev. Thomas 
Edwards was settled August 19, 1841, and was dismissed 
February 16, 1843. The present pastor, Rev. E. S. Wright, 
W-as settled January 7, 1846. The church now consists of 
one hundred and eighty-one members. 



CHARTER VI. 

BlOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. — WiLLIAM ADAMS, RUFUS ANDERSON, 
ROBERT BARTLEY, JOHN BELL, SAMUEL FISHER, WILLIAM GREGG, 
JARVIS GREGG, SAMUEL LIVERMORE, JOSEPH m'kEEN, JOHN 
m'mDRPHY, JOHN PRENTICE, GEORGE REID, ROBERT ROGERS, JOHN 
8TARK, SAMUEL TAGGART, ISAAC THOM, MATTHEW THORNTON, AND 
JAMES WILSON. — GeNEALOGICAL SKETCHES OF THE FAMILIES 
OF WILLIAM ADAMS, EDWARD AIKEV, JAMES ANDERSON, JOHN 
ANDERSON, JOHN BELL, JAMES CLARK, ROBERT CLARK, JOHN 
CROMBIE, SAMUEL DICKEY, GEORGE DUNCAN, SAMUEL ELA, 
ROBERT GILMORE, JAMES GREGG, DAVID GREGG, ABRAHAM HOLMES, 
JOHN aiACK, JAMES MACGREGOR, ALEXANDER m'cOLLOM, JAMES 
m'kEEN, JOHN m'kEEN, JOHN MORRISON, JAMES NESMITH, PETER 
PATTERSON, JOHN PINKERTON, HUGH RANKIN, JAMES REID, 
MATTHEW TAYLOR, ANDREW TODD, JOHN AND THOMAS WALLAGE, 
THOMAS WALLAGE, AND JOHN WOODBURN. 

It was remarked, in a former chapter, that a large 
number of the early settlers of Londonderry, and of their 
descendants, have honorably distinguished themselves, and 
have held high offices of trust. Six of them have filled the 
gubernatorial chair of New Ilampshire, namely, Matthew 
Thornton, who was president of the Provincial Congress, in 
1775, Jeremiah Smith, Samuel Bell, John Bell, Samuel 
Dinsmoor, and Samuel Dinsmoor, Jr. Nine have been mem- 
bers of Congress from New Hampshire, namely, Matthew 
Thornton, member of the Old Congress, and signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, Samuel Bell, senator, Jeremiah 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 209 

Smith, Sllas Betton, James Wilson, Samuel Dinsmoor, 
Samiiel Smitli, James Wilson, Jr., and George W. Morrison, 
representatives. Five have been appointed justices of the 
Superior Coiirt of Judicature for New Hampshire, namely, 
Jeremiah Smith, Chief Justice, Matthew Thornton, Jonathan 
Steele, Samuel Bell, and Samuel D. Bell. The names of 
generals John Stark, George Reid, James Miller, and John 
McNeil, of colonels Andrew Todd, William Gregg, and 
Daniel Reynolds, and of Major Robert Rogers, sufïiciently 
prove that they have contributed their full share to the mili- 
tary achievements and glory of their country. No attempt 
will be made to enumerate those who have attained dis- 
tinction in other States, or in professional life. 

The following are a few biographical notices of some 
of the early settlers, or of their descendants, who were 
prominent, either by reason of their public services, or their 
influence in the town. They include, however, only those 
who were residents or natives of the town, as a different 
course would extend the chapter much beyond its assigned 
limits. Notices of many distinguished individuals will be 
found in connection with the genealogical sketches of their 
respective families. 

WILLIAM ADAMS. 

Hon. William Adams, the son of James, the eldest son of 
William Adams, who was one of the early settlers of Lon- 
donderry, was born February 6, 1755. When a youth, be 
entered with patriotic zeal the army of the Revolution. On 
the first alarm, that hostilities had commenced, he enroUed 
himself in the military company from this town, commanded 
by Captain George Reid, and was in the battle of Bunker 
Hill. He served during several campaigns, and was engaged 
in the battle of Bennington. He there received a severe 
wound ; a musket-ball entered his body near the shoulder, 
but did not prove fatal. After leaving the army, he was 

18* 



210 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

appointed to the command of a regiment of militia, which 
office he held several years. In early life he united with the 
chnrch, and was elected a ruling elder ; the duties of which 
office he faithfully discharged. His judgment and his influ- 
ence, in all matters touching the discipline and government 
of the church, were highly valued by his venerated and 
beloved pastor, Rev. Dr. Morrison. 

Colonel Adams took an active and decided part in the 
civil and political movements which marked the earlier 
period of our government. He not only sustained for many 
years the more imjDortant offices of the town, and was influ- 
ential in the direction of its affairs, but was repeatedly chosen 
to represent his fellow-townsmen, in General Court ; and 
was for several years a member of the Senate. He was a 
stern and bold reprover of vice, in all its manifestations, a 
steadfast supporter of religious institutions, and an intel- 
ligent and zealous defender of evangelical truth. He pos- 
sessed strongly-marked traits of intellectual and moral 
character, was distinguished for strength «f mind, firmness 
of purpose, and unwavering adherence to religious principle, 
in the discharge of duty. He may be justly regarded as 
having been one of the fathers of the town. , 

He married Janet Taylor, February 6, 1733. He died in 
October, 1828, and his widow died in the foUowing Decem- 
ber. They had three children ; an infant, tliat lived but a 
few hours, a daughter Mary, who, in 1821, married elder 
John Holmes, and a son James, who was born November 7, 
178.5, and died April 15, 1817. He was a young man of 
great promise. Possessing an ardent thirst for knowledge, 
he entered upon a course of education, and graduated at 
Dartmouth College, in 1813. On leaving college, he took 
charge of the academy at Ilampton, N. H. He there com- 
menced the study of theology, with Rev. Mr. Webster, tlien 
minister of that town. He feit a stronjï desire to enjxajïe in 
the work of the ministry, had nearly completed his course 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 211 

of preparation, and the time was fixed for his examination 
and licensure, when he was attaeked with sickness, wliich 
terminated in consumption, and closed his life and promised 
usefuhiess in the church below. 

RUFUS ANDERSON. 

The ancestors of Rufus Anderson came from the north 
of Ireland. His grandfather, James Anderson, w^as one 
of the sixteen first settlers of Londonderiy. He had five 
sons and two daughters. James, the third son, married 
Nancy Woodburn for his first wife ; and by her he had 
eight children. His second wife was widoAV Elizabeth Bar- 
nett, and by her he had four children. Kufus, a son of 
Nancy Woodburn, was born March 5, 1765, and was a little 
more than two years old at the time of his mother's death. 
His motlier, a half-sister of Mrs. George Reid, who was so 
generally known and highly respected, is reputed to have 
been a very godly woman, and having devoted Rufus to the 
ministry of the gospel, she obtained, on her deathbed, a 
promise from his fathér, that he should be edueated for that 
work. Bilt his father's second marriage, which added four 
more childreii to the family, interposed almost insuperable 
difficulties in the way of his obtaining a liberal education. 
In the year 1783, when eighteen years of age, he became a 
member of the Presbyterian church in Londonderry, then 
under the care of the Rev. Mr. Morrison. It was with Mr. 
Morrison he commenced his preparation for college, attend- 
ing to the secular affairs of his instructor as a return for 
board and tuition. His preparatory studies w^ere completed, 
however, with the late Dr. Wood, of Boscawen, N. H., and 
for that excellent man he ever cherished a grateful affection, 
as their correspondence of raany years doubtless would show. 

" My father," says his son, Rev. Rufus Anderson, of Boston, 
" records in his private journal, that his available funds, when 
he entered Dartmouth College, in 1787, w^ere only three- 



212 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

fourths of a dollar. I infer from letters addressed to liim in 
after life, by Dr. Wheelock, that he secured while in college 
the respect and esteem of the president. He was graduated 
in 1791. I SLippose my father's pecuniary necessities in col- 
lege were no worse than those of many of liis contempora- 
ries ; but I am afFected to think of him as driving before him, 
from Londonderry to Hano^'^r, on foot, two cows, which his 
father had given him towards his college expenses ; or carry- 
ing homespun cloth to sell in one of the large seaports ; or 
finding his way, sixty years ago, to the then distant town of 
Saco, in Maine, to keep school, and receiving his pay in 
things not easily converted into money. But he appears to 
have been less in debt when he graduated than is frequently 
the case with young men of our day, and from this indebted- 
ness he contrived soon to relieve himself." 

After spending a short time in the study of theology, in 
Beverly, Mass. Avith his brother-in-law, Rev. Joseph McKeen, 
he was licensed to preach the gospel some time in 1792. In 
the following year, he received two invitations to settle in 
Maine, one from Parsonsfield, which he declined, the other 
from the second parish in North Yarmouth, which he 
accepted. The ordination sermon was preached by Rev. 
Mr. McKeen, from 1 Timothy, 4: 16, "Take heed unto thy- 
self, and unto the doctrine." Mr. Anderson records in his 
Journal on the occasion, "gratitude for a united parish, a 
united church, and a united council." 

On the 8th of September, 1795, Mr. Anderson was 
married to Hannah, second daughter of Isaac Parsons, Esq., 
of New Gloucester, Me. She possessed a cultivated mind, 
and a truly Christian spirit ; humility, patience, love to the 
people of God, and rare prudence, are said to have been her 
prominent graces. She died at North Yarmouth, July 14, 
1803, scarcely eight years after her marriage, leaving three 
sons, Rufus, Isaac, and James. The two younger lived to 
graduatc at Bowdoin College, and both died soon after of 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 213 

consumption ; the former at Beverly, 1818, the latter in 
Charleston, S. C, 1823. Of Isaac, an interesting memoir 
was published soon after his death. He was a young man 
of most promising talents and of devoted piety. 

Rufus, the eldest son (Rev. Dr. Anderson, Secretary of 
the A. B. C. F. M.), has for many years been the only sur- 
vivor of the family. He also graduated at Bowdoin College, 
during the presidency of Dr. Appleton. For many years the 
father was a member of the Board of Overseers of this 
college. 

Mr. Anderson, on entering upon his charge at North 
YarmoLith, devoted himself unreservedly to the work of the 
ministry. He was a man for work, and he was a man for 
prayer. His liabit was to pray in secret three times a day. 
He had that indispensable requisite in a minister, an earnest 
desire to save souls. He labored in season and out of sea- 
son, especially with the youthful portion of his people. Nor 
did he labor in vain. Not only did many give evidence of 
deriving spiritual prolit from his labors while he was with 
them, but an extensive revival, which occurred soon after his 
dismission, was regarded as mainly the result of his instru- 
mentality. The inadequacy of his support, and the necessity 
of some change for the benefit of his health, led him to ask 
a dismission, after a ^ettlement of almost ten years. This 
was very reluctantly granted, in September, 1804. 

Mr. Anderson's next pastoral charge, in which he re- 
mained till his death, was in Wenham, Mass. He was 
inducted into this new relation on the lOth of June, 1805. 
A short time before his removal from North Yarmouth, he was 
married to Elizabeth Lovett, of Beverly, who survived him 
a number of years, and died in her native place, in 1820. 
This removal to Wenham was doubtless the means under 
God of prolonging his life. His new situation combined, in 
a far higher degree than did the place of his former resi- 
dence, the things which he then needed, in order to enjoy 



214 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

even tolerable Iiealtli. A revival of religion in the year 
1810, greatly rejoiced liis heart, but he never recovered frora 
the effects of the extraordinaiy labors Avhich were necessa- 
rily put forth at that time. A consumption gradually fastened 
upon him, though he continued to preach till near the close 
of the year 1813. As he perceived the design of his gra- 
cieus Lord to remove him, he became more sensitive to the 
things of the heavenly world. " 1 remember," remarks his 
son, " his being so overcome, one morning when on his knees 
engaged in the family devotions, that he could not proceed." 
His social afFections were ever strong, and he had some 
friendships among his ministerial brethren which were pecu- 
liarly dear. The dearest and most intimate of them all was 
with Dr. Samuel Worcester, of Salem, Mass., well known as 
the First Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions. This high fraternal 
regard was fully reciprocated. As two or three of Dr. Wor- 
cester's brothers had departed somewhat from the orthodox 
views of the person and offices of Christ, Mr. Anderson, 
shortly before his departure, and while yet able to converse 
freely, requested an interview with Dr. Worcester, and spent 
a long time with him in his study ; after which he was heard 
to say, with great emphasis, to his wife, as he came out of 
his study, "All is right ; Samuel is safe!" It was this 
interview, probably, which induced Dr. Worcester to select 
the Deity of Christ, as*a subject for the sermon which he 
preached at his funeral. 

Mr. Anderson died on the llth of February, 1814, when 
he had nearly completed his forty-ninth year. His funeral 
was numerously attended, and the sermon preached by Dr. 
Worcester on the occasion, from 2 Timothy, 1 : 12, was after- 
wards published, and contains a glowing description of his 
character and worth. The prcaclier closed his memorial of 
his departed friend by sa^ing, " Might an expression of per- 
sonal feeling be indulged, I would say, I am distressed for 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 215 

thee, my brother Anderson ; veiy pleasant hast tliou been 
imto me." 

Mr. Anderson published two fast sermons in the jear 
1802, designed more particiilarly to resist the ingress of 
French infidelity and licentiousness. In 1805 and 1806, he 
published two pamphlets, directed against the distinetive 
principles of the Baptists. They show a discriminating 
mind, and a clear apprehension of the subjects of which he 
was treating. He also published a primer for children. At 
the close of his life, he was preparing an historical work on 
modern missions to the heathen ; a subject which had then 
begun to attract the attention of the American churches, and 
had secured his warmest interest. The outline of the work 
was drawn up, and various materials collected, which are 
now in the hands of his son, Dr. Anderson. As Dr. Ander- 
son was employed by his honored father to transcribe these 
documents, it served not only to give him thus early some 
knowledge of the field to which Providence afterwards 
assigned him, and where he has labored so long and so effi- 
cently, as Secretary of the American Board for Foreign 
Missions, but to enlist his feelings deeply in the work of 
Christian Missions, an object so dear to the heart of his 
venerated parent, who lived to see only the dawn of the long- 
predicted and desired day. 

ROBERT BARTLEY. 

Robert Bartley, M. D., was born June 13, 1759, in the 
county of Armagh, in the north of Ireland. His parents 
were of Scotch orio:in, and his father was an elder in the 
Presbyterian church. Dr. Bartley received his collegiate 
education at the Dublin university in Ireland, and his pro- 
fessional education at the university of Edinburgh. At each 
of these institutions he completed the regular course of 
instruction, and received his medical diploma in the year 
1784. The two subsequent years he spent as assistant in 



216 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

different liospitals, in the city of London. He afterwards 
served, for a year or two, in the capacity of surgeon's mate, 
in a British man-of-war. He carae to America about the 
year 1790, and settled in Londonderry, about two years 
afterwards, where he piirsued the practice of his profession 
for the remainder of his life. He was highly esteemed as a 
physician, and had a very extensive practice. He died in 
November, 1820. He Icft several children, among whom 
were Hugh, wdio succeeded his father in the practice of med- 
icine in Londonderry, John M. C, pastor of the church in 
Hampstead, N. H., and Robert, of Windham, N. H. 

JOHN BELL. 

John Bell, born August 15, 1730, was the yoimgest of the 
family of John and Elizabeth Bell. In early life, he had 
only such advantages of education as the common schools 
afïbrded, which, it is needless to say, were very inconsider- 
able. ïhough not a scholar, he was through life a diligent 
reader, and a thinking man. He married. December 21, 
1758, Mary Ann Gilmore, a daughter of James Gilmore 
and Jean Baptiste, and a granddaughter of Robert Gilmore 
and Mary Kennedy, who were early settlers in Londonderry. 
She was thought to possess much personal beauty in early 
life, was a woman of great prudence and good sense, and of' 
a kind and affectionate temper. They had twelve children, 
several of whom died early. 

At the commencement of the revolutionary war. Mr. Bell 
was forty-five years of age, w^ith a family of eight children, 
circumstances which must have prevented his taking a very 
active part, if he had desired it, in the military moveinents 
of the day. In the spring of 1775, he was elected town 
clerk, and a member of the committce of safety of the town. 
In the autumn of that year, he was elected a member of the 
Provincial Congress, which met at Exeter, December 21, 
1775, and w^hich, early in 1776, resplved itself into a house 



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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 217 

of representatives, and put in operation the independent 
government of New Hampshire, under the temporarj' consti- 
tution. In the autumn of 1776, he was reëlected and 
attended the seven sessions of the legislature which were 
held in 1776 and 1777, and was again a member from Dec. 
1780 to Dec. 178]. In 1776, he was appointed a muster- 
.master of a part of the New Hampshire troops ; and in 
1780, he was appointed colonel of the eighth regiment of the 
militia. p-Throughout the revolutionary struggle, he was a 
firm and decided whig, and much confidence was reposed by 
the more prominent men in the State government in his sound 
judgment and steady support of the cause.^:i-In 1786, under 
the new constitution, he was elected a senator, and held the 
office by successive elections until June 1790, and in 1791 
he was elected to fill a vacancy, and served at the winter 
session. He was a member of the committee who succeeded 
in effecting a comjiromise of the Masonian proprietary 
claim, a subject which, in its time, was a matter of great 
interest in the State ; and, before the adoption of the consti- 
tution of 1792, he was a special justice of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas. He held during many years the office of mod- 
erator, selectman, or town clerk, and discharged their duties 
with unquestioned integrity and good judgment. He was a 
magistrate, from an early period after the Declaration of 
Independence, until disqualified by age. He was early a 
member of the church, and sustained the office of elder 
from 1783, until his injSrmities required him to withdraw. 
He was justly esteemed as a pious, devout, and sincere 
Christian, and a steady and consistent supporter, through 
a long life, of all the institutions of religion. 

At the age of seventy, he determined to close his connec- 
tion with the business of others, and ceased to act in the 
capacity of magistrate, and of administrator and guardian, in 
which, through the esteem and confidence of his townsmen, 
he had been extensively engaged. He was never anxious 

19 



218 



HISTORT OF LONDONDEKRT. 



for the aequisition of wealth, but had property enough for 
his moderate wants, and continued to find occupation and 
emi^loyment in the cultivation of his farm. y>He was a man 
of large frame, six feet and one inch in height, had a pow- 
erful voice, and great personal strength and activity, having 
been for twenty years the champion in the wrestling-ring, a 
favorite amusement at public meetings at that day*^ He had' 
naturally a good constitution, which, with his temperate 
habits, secured to him, with the exception of a single attack 
of a rheumatic kind in middle life, almost uninterrupted 
health till near the close of his ninety-fifth year. He died 
November 30, 1825, having survived his wife more than 
three years. She died April 21, 1822, aged eighty-five. 



SAMUEL FISHER. 

Dea. Samuel Fisher was born in the north of Ireland, in 
the year 1722, and was of Scottish descent. His father was 
a weaver. Dea. Fisher came to America in 1740, in the 
nineteenth year of his age. The ship in which he came was 
usually spoken of as " The starved ship." The vessel was so* 
scantily supplied with provision, that long before the voyage 
was completed, one pint of oat-meal for each individual on 
board, and a proportionate allowance of water, was all that 
remained. Mr. Fisher once went to the mate with a table- 
spoon to obtain some water, which was refused him, there 
being but two-thirds of a chunk-bottle full on board. Mr. 
Fisher's custom was, to take a table-spoonful of meal daily, 
and having moistened it with salt water, to eat it raw. The 
passengers and crew, having subsisted in this manner for 
fourteen days, were at length reduced to the necessity of 
eating the bodies of those who died. Even this resource 
failed them, and at length Mr. Fisher was selected to give 
up his life to preserve the lives of the rest. Providen- 
tially, however, a vessel hove in sight, and their signals 
of distress being observed they obtained relief and were 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 219 

saved. So deep an impression did tlie horrors of that pas- 
sage make upon the mind of Mr. Fisher, that, in after life, he 
could never see, without pain, the least morsel of food wasted, 
or a pail of water thrown carelessly upon the ground. 

On his arrival in this country, he was bound by the 
captain to a man in Roxbury, for the payment of his passage. 
He came to Londonderry, probably about one or two years 
after, and became a member of the family of Mr. Matthew 
Taylor, whose daughter he married, when he was twenty- 
five years of age. He was made a ruling elder of the church 
in the West Parish, during the ministry of Rev. David Mac- 
Gregor, and remained in this office until he was no longer 
able to perform its duties on account of his age. He seemed 
to be well instructed in the great principles of the gospel, as 
set forth in the Westminster Catechism, and in the Confes- 
sion of Faith of the Church of Scotland. These principles he 
taught diligently to his children, for whose spiritual welfare 
he feit a deej) solicitude. 

One of his grandchildren (Mrs. Dickey), writes thus of 
him : " I can only sj)eak of the impression he made on my 
mind when visiting in his family when quite young. His 
family worship was strikingly impressive. When he read a 
portion of Scripture, he became remarkably interesting. I 
sliall never forget his manner, in reading the chapter in 
which Isaac blesses his son Jacob. It seemed as though he 
was the very patriarch himself. When he knelt in prayer, 
how deeply impressive were his devotions ; how arden tly 
would he plead the promise, ' I will be a God to thee, and 
thy seed.' He had a most happy faculty of improving the 
occurrences which took place about him for the religious 
instruction of his family. He was a great lover of Watts 
and Doddridge ; would frequently address me "on the subject 
of religion, and give me some of his books." 

Deacon Fisher was married three times, and had twelve 
children ; eleven of whom arrived at adult age, and ten of 



220 HISTQRT OF LONDONDERRT. 

whom survived him. Ten of his children were married, and 
most of thera lived to advanced age. The average age of 
four of them was ninety-one years. His descendants now 
(1850) number nine hundred and fifteen, and are scattered 
througli nearly all the States of the Union, through Nova 
Scotia, and the Canadas. Some of them are ministers, and 
some elders in the church. It is estimated, that three-fourths 
of those over twenty years of age are professors of religion. 
Deacon Fisher was, in his j:>ersonal appearance, tall and 
commanding, and his countenance was grave and solemn, so 
that few would willingly be guilty of levity in his presence. 
He died at Londonderry, April 10, 1806, in the eighty-fourth 
year of his age. 

WILLIAM GREGG. ^ 

William Gregg was born at Londonderry, N. H., October 
23, 1730. He was the son of Captain John Gregg, who 
emigrated with his father. Captain James Gregg, from the 
county of Antrim, Ireland, when about sixteen years of age. 
At the commencement of the revolutionary war, Colonel 
Gregg commanded a company of minute-men, in the town 
of Londonderry. He joined his countrymen in Boston early 
in the year 1775, and tarried there till more urgent calls 
required his presence at home as muster-master for his regi- 
ment and a member of the committee of safety. The ensu- 
ing year he was commissioned by the council of the State as 
major in the first regiment of militia raised in New Hamp- 
shire to recruit the army at New York, where he performed 
various military services and sufFered numerous privations 
and hardships. In the year 1777, Colonel Gregg and James 
Betton, Esq., were appointed agents to proceed to the seat 
of government, then at Baltimore, where they obtained and 
brought to the New England States a large sum of money, 
for the purpose of prosecuting the war. After making dis- 
bursements in New York and at Hartford, Conn., he returned 
to Boston, and from thence to his native State, when he 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 221 

received the thanks of the legislature for his services. In 
the same year, he sustained the commission of lieutenant- 
colonel in the brigade commanded by the iutrepid General 
Stark, and commanded the vanguard in the memorable 
battle at Bennington, where he was honored by the confi- 
dence and approbation of that distinguished ofRcer. 

At the close of the war he retired to his farm, and em- 
ployed himself in the pursuits of husbandry until within a 
few years of his death. He died at Londonderry, Sept. 16, 
1815, at the age of eighty-five. 

The leading feature in the character of Colonel Gregg 
was perseverance. Whatever he undertook, he saw accom- 
plished. In the prime of life, his industry and resolution in 
the discharge of his affairs were unrivalled. Those who were 
in his employ partook of the same spirit, for he went forward 
and cheered them in the midst of severe toil with tales of 
" high emprise," and pleasing anecdotes. He inherited the 
spirit of hospitality by which the emigrants of 'Ireland have 
long been signalized. His house was always the resting- 
place of the weary, and none left it without feasting on the 
bounties of his board. Youth and age were delighted in his 
company, and his hospitality gained him numerous friends, 
in addition to those who esteemed and honored him for the 
good he had done his country. 

J AR VIS GREGG. 

Prof. Jarvis Gregg, son of Deacon James Gregg, of Derry, 
N. H., was born in Derry, September, 1808. At an early 
age he entered the Pinkerton Academy, in his native town, 
then, and for many years subsequent, under the charge of 
Abel F. Hildreth, Esq. Here, while a mere lad, he became 
greatly distinguished for the rapidity and accuracy of his 
acquisitions, and, at this early period, had a wide reputation 
for varied scholarship. He graduated at Dartmouth College 
in 1828. He was for a time a teacher in one of the public 

19* 



222 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

schools in Boston, and subsequently took the charge of the 
Academy in Boscawen, N. H. In 1833, he was appointed 
tutor in Dartmouth College, which office he held for one 
year. He pursued his theological studies at Andover, Mass., 
where he graduated in 1835. While at Andover, he received 
the a^^pointment of professor of rhetoric and mathematics, in 
Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio. This appoint- 
ment he accepted, and entered upon his duties soon after 
leaving Andover. The next spring he returned to New 
England, and was marrieS to Miss Alice Webster, daughter 
of Hon. Ezekiel Webster, of Boscawen, N. H., and niece of 
Hon. Daniel Webster. 

On Sabbath morning after his return to the place of his 
labors, he was attacked with the scarlet fever, and died on 
Tuesday evening, June 28, 1836, just one week after his 
return to Hudson, not having been considered dangerously 
111 more than an hour before his death. Professor Gregg was 
a young mgfti of superior abilities, of great brilliancy, of 
extensive and varied learning, and gave promise of eminent 
usefulness, not only in the departments of instruction to 
which he had been called, but extensively in that part of 
the country in which he resided. Even thus early, he had 
gained an enviable distinction as a rapid and finished writer. 
His style was bold, graphic, and imaginative. He wrote 
several Sabbath-school books, and several articles in the 
larger periodicals, which were considered very able produc- 
tions. Few young men of his age excelled him as a public 
speaker, possessing, as he did, in a very high degree, the 
graces and the power of true oratory. The writer well 
recoUects with what a thrill of delight and admiration his first 
sermon was received. Two of his public addresses were 
published ; one, a Eulogy on Lafayette, delivered before the 
students of Dartmouth College, another before the New 
Hampsliire State Lyceum. 

A friend of his at the West, who knew him well, and could 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 223 

appreciate the value of his services to the college, as vvell as 
his great excellence of character, says, in view of his death : 
" His loss to the college, at this crisis, will be peculiarly 
afflictive. Although the period of his professorship had been 
short, he had already attained a high and enviable standing ; 
and such was the suavity of his manners, and the sweet- 
ness of his disposition, that he had endeared himself to all 
with whom he had become acquainted, and it may with truth 
be said of him, * None knew him but to love him, none named 
him but to praise.' " 

SAMUEL LIVERMORE. 

Hon. Sanauel Livermore was born in "Waltham, Mass., May 
14, 1732, (o. s.) He graduated at Princeton, N. J., in 1752, 
and studied law with Hon. Edmund Trowbridge, and was 
admitted to practice in 1757. The next year he established 
himself at Portsraouth. He married, September 22, 1759, 
Jane Brown, daughter of Rev. Arthur Brown, of Portsmouth. 
At what time he removed from Portsmouth to Londonderry 
is uncertain, probably about 1765. He represented the 
town in the General Court in 1768, 1769, and 1770. Subse- 
quently, probably about 1775, he removed to the town of 
Holderness, N. H., of which town he was one of the original 
grantees ; and of which he became, by purchase, the principal 
proprietor. In 1769, he was appointed king's attorney; in 
this office he remained four or five years, and after the Rev- 
olution, he held the office of attorney-general about three 
years. He was a delegate to the old Congress, from Dec, 
1779, to June, 1782. In 1782, he was appointed Chief 
Justice of the Superior Court ; this office he held until 1790. 
In the fallof 1789, he was elected representative in Congress, 
and in 1793, was elected to the Senate of the United States, 
in which office he remained until declining health obliged 
him to resign it in 1802. He died at Holderness, May 18, 
1803, at the age of seventy-one years. He left one daughter 
and three sons, Edward St. Loe, Arthur, and George. 



224 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



JOSEPH MKEEN. 

Rev. Joseph McKeen, D. D., was born in Londonderry, 
N. II., October 15, 1757. His grandfather was James Mc- 
Keen, Esq., one of the company hy wliom the settlement of 
the town was commenced. His father, John McKeen, was 
born April 13, 1715, at Ballymony, in the county of Antrim, 
in Ireland, being one of twenty-one children, and about four 
years of age when his father emigrated to this country. He 
married Mary McKeen, his cousin, and had also a numerous 
family. He was for many years an elder of the first Pres- 
byterian church in Londonderry. 

Of seven sons, Joseph was the third. At an early age, he 
eno;ao;ed in classical studies under the tuition of Rev. Mr. 
Wilhams of Windham, N. H., and such was his proficiency, 
that he entered Dartmouth College in the thirteenth year of 
his age. Of his college life but little is known, excepting 
that he showed a decided predilection for mathematical 
studies, in which he made, while there, very respectable 
attainments, and graduated in 1774, with the reputation of a 
good classical scholar. On leaving college, he engaged as a 
school-teacher in his native town, and continued in London- 
derry in that employment eight years. Some time during 
this period, as is supposed, he united Avith the Presbyterian 
church under the pastoral care of Rev. David MacGregor. 
The records of that church, including this period, being lost, 
we have no record of the event. While thus employed as a 
teacher, he imj)roved wliat time his duties would permit, in 
reviewing his college studies, and in extending his acquaint- 
ance with general literature. 

Mr. McKeen's labors in this employment were suspended, 
for a season, by the events of the revolutionary war. A 
pressing call being made for soldiers, he laid aside his pro- 
fessional duties, and joined the army as a private soldier, 
under General Sulhvan, and was with that officer in his cel- 




FJRkST PR-EyiDE^JT OF BOWUOJN COLLEGE 

Dii^d Jirlv 1807. Anpfi 4'9Yrs. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 225 

ebrated retreat from Rhode Island. After concluding hia 
engagements as a teacher, he went to Cambridge. There, 
under the instruction of Prof. WiUiams, he pursued a course 
of studies in natural philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy, 
which had been his favorite pursuits while an undergradu- 
ate. At the end of this course, he commenced his theologi- 
cal studies, under the instruction of the Rev. Mr. Williams 
of AVindhara, his former tutor ; and in due time was exam- 
ined and licensed as a preacher, by the Londonderry pres- 
bytery. About this time he was employed for several terms 
as an assistant in Phillips Academy, at Andover, Mass., then 
under the preceptorship of Dr. Pearson, who was afterwards 
professor in Harvard University. 

After ha ving preached sonie time in Boston, with much 
acceptance, to a society then recently collected by Rev. Mr. 
Moorhead, composed chiefly of " Presbyterian strangers," he 
received an invitation to preach as a candidate for settlement 
over the first church and society in Beverly, Mass., which 
had been left destitute by the removal of their pastor. Dr. 
TVillard, to the presidency of Harvard College. Being at 
length invited with great unanimity to take the pastoral 
charge of that flock, he accepted the invitation, and was 
ordained, May, 1785. In this place he labored as a minister 
of Christ for seventeen years, till called in providence to the 
office of president of Bowdoin College, then recently estab- 
lished in Brunswick, in . the " District of Maine," but which 
had not yet gone into operation. He was inaugurated Sept. 
2, 1802, and as the college had then no chapel, and there 
being no church in the village, the public services of the 
occasion were performed in a grove, a little distance from 
the site of the present college buildings. 

Dr. McKeen was in his person considerably above the 
ordinary stature, and of noble appearance. He was dignified, 
yet simple and conciliatory in his manners, of kind and con- 
descending spirit, always gentlemanly and affable. His 



226 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

• 

whole intercourse in the community, as a citizen, was 
rnarked witli urbanity and propriety of deportment. In the 
ei vil and political conöerns of his country he took a deep 
interest, and was not afraid freely to avow his sentiments 
respecting them both in private and in fniblic on all suitable 
occasions, thoiigh he always did it with great wisdom and 
prudence. So judicious was he in all his movements, that 
he rarely gave ofFence to persons of any party or sect. His 
unbending integrity and spotless morals were ackiiowledged 
by alL As a Christian, he was decided in his views and 
consistent in his practice ; uniformly serieus and devout, but 
without the least appearance of ostentation or gloominess. 
His walk before the church and the world was so blameless, 
that no charge of the least impropriety was ever known to 
be made against liim. It may well be qaestioned, whether 
any man of his day, in public life, ever came nearer than he 
to that apostolical description, " If any man offend not in 
word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the 
whole body." 

President McKeen was sound in his views of theology, as 
received by the orthodox of the present day. His creed was 
substantially in agreement Avith the Assembly's Shorter Cat- 
echism, which he taught to the children and youth of his 
parish, through the whole period of his ministry, holding 
annual catechizings in different districts. 

As a public speaker, Dr. McKeen's voice was clear and 
strong, and his articulation and enunciation so distinct, that 
he was easily heard by the largest audience. His pulpit 
style was marked by simplicity, purity, and strength, and 
his reasoning was lucid and impressive. His manner was 
always solemn, and evinced that he believed what he uttered 
to be important truth, although he was rarely so earnest in 
his appeals as to amount to what may be called pathos. 
Nothing light or trifling, or adapted to provoke a smile, was 
perhaps ever uttered by him from the pulpit. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 227 

In his character as a pastor, he was affectionately attentive 
to his flock, and especially in cases of affliction was ever 
ready to sympathize and do all in his power to assist and 
comfort them. As illustrative of this excellent trait of char- 
acter in a minister of Christ is the following incident. 
When General Washington was making the tour of New 
England, after the Revolution, he passed through Beverly, 
and was to dine at the house of a distinguished gentleman in 
that place. Mr. McKeen was of course invited and expect- 
ed to be present on an occasion so highly gratifying. Just 
as he was leaving his house for this purpose, he received a 
request to visit a very humble parishioner, in a remote part 
of the town, who was at the point of death. Without plead- 
ing his previous engagement as a reason for delaying his 
visit, or hesitating for a moment, he at once repaired to the 
house of the afflicted, to administer the desired consolation, 
readily denying himself the privilege of an interview with 
the Father of his country, which must have been so highly 
gratifying. 

Securing thus the esteem of his people to an unusual 
degree by his ability and fidelity, his parish remained united 
and in peace while other parishes around were divided and 
distracted. Although the leaven of French infidelity was 
prevalent to some extent in his society for several years, yet 
by his able instructions and judicious management it was 
kept in check, and finally to a great degree rooted out. So 
highly was Dr. McKeen estimated for his attainments in 
science and literature, and so distinguished was he for his 
gentlemanly and Christian qualities, that his elevation to the 
presidential chair of Bowdoin College gave great satisfaction 
to the friends of education in New England, and particularly 
in Maine, it being generally supposed that he was eminently 
qualified to give form and solidity, and extended usefulness, 
to the new institution. These expectations were not disap- 
pointed : for, by a discreet management of the affairs of the 



228 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

institution in its infancy, he contributed in no small degree 
to lay the foundation of its future prosperity. 

Not only was he well qualified by his distinguished schol- 
arship to take charge of the instruction of this institution, but 
by his extensive knowledge of character, and his mild, yet 
firm and decided spirit, was eminently fitted for its govern- 
ment. He succeeded well in the presidential office, and did 
all that the friends of the college could reasonably expect in 
promoting its interests, and left it, at his decease, in a flour- 
ishing condition. Not only did he exert himself for the 
advancement of science and literature, but also for the gen- 
eral promotion of piety and religion, as well in the commu- 
nity as in the college. 

In September, 1805, when he had been at the head of the 
college four years, he was attacked by what was thought to 
be a disease of the liver, whicli terminated in dropsy, and 
put an end to his valuable life, July 15, 1807, in the fiftieth 
year of his age. His long and distressing sickness he bore 
with Christian submission and fortitude, and deep humility. 
Toward the close of life, the fifty-first Psalm was his favorite 
subject of meditation and conversation. Deeply sensible of 
his ill-deserts as a sinner, and relying on God's free and 
sovereign mercy in Jesus Christ, this distinguished man feil 
asleep and was gathered to his fathers. 

JOHN m'murphy. 
John McMurphy, Esq., arrived in America from Ireland, 
and joined the settlement in Londonderry a very short time 
after its commencement. His name appears on its earliest 
records. He was one of the selectmen in the year 1722, 
and was a member of most of the important committees to 
adjust the concerns of the colony. He was also the first 
representative of Londonderry, and it appears from the 
records that he represented the town, as a member of the 
General Court, eleven years. He was very early appointed 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 229 

justice of the peace and of the quorum. Unless he had 
reeeived his commission before his arrival in this province, 
he must have been preceded in the office by James Mc- 
Keen, Esq., who was appointed justice of the peace, April 
29, 1720. 

It appears that Esquire McMurphy was a man of intelli- 
gence and of probity. His character, intellectual and moral, 
was such as to secure the unlimited confidence of the town, 
and commanded the respect of his fellow-citizens. He was 
a ready scribe, was required tó transact most of their civil 
business, and was continued in the office of town clerk four- 
teen years. 

The lot of land which he selected, or which was assignëd 
to him as a proprietor, is the farm now occupied by his 
great-grandson, James McMurphy. It has never passed out 
of the family. The house which he built, was the second 
framed house erected in the town, a. part of which is now 
standing, and inhabited by Mr. James McMurphy. He died 
in 1755, at Portsmouth, while a member of the General 
Court. His decease was deeply feit and lamented by the 
town and the community at large. The foUowing record 
appears on the town-books : — 

" John McMurphy, Esq., Justice of the quorum, departed 
this life September 21, 1755, at Portsmouth, and was carried 
to Londonderry on Tuesday and buHed on Wednesday, the 
24th, at the old burying-place in this town, with an extraor- 
dinary company, aged about seventy-three years." 

JOHN PRENTICE. 

Hon. John Prentice was a native of Cambridge, Mass. 
He graduated at Harvard College, in 1766, his mother 
having been obliged to sweep the college buildings to aid in 
paying his expenses. He came to Londonderry in 1772, 
and read law with Hon. Samuel Livermore. On being 
admitted to the bar, in 1775, he purchased the farm of Mr. 

20 



230 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Livermore, on wliich, after building a new mansion, he sub- 
sequently settled, having as it is believed resided for a few 
years previous in Marblehead, Mass.' He was appointed 
attorney-general June 5, 1787, and resigned in 1793. He 
was representative from the town qf Londonderrj thirteen 
years, and was chosen speaker in 1794 and 1795, and from 
1798 to 1803. In September, 1798, he was offered the 
appointment of justice. of the Superior Court, which he 
declined. He died May 18, 1808, at the age of sixty. 

His first wife was Ruth Lemon, of Marblehead, who had 
six children, and died in 1791. He afterwards married 
Tabitha Sargent, a daughter of Hon. Nathaniel P. Sargent, 
of Haverhill, Mass., who died in 1806, having had six 
children. 

GEORGE REID. 

George Reid was the eldest son of James and Mary Reid, 
who were among the early settlers of Londonderry. He was 
born in the year 1733, married Mary Woodburn, daughter 
of John Woodburn, by his first wife Mary Boyd, and settled 
in Londonderry. At the time of the battle of Lexington, 
Mr. Reid was in command of a company of minute-men, and 
no sooner did the intelligence of that event reach London- 
derry^ than, leaving his wife and children, he placed himself 
at the head of his company, and marched to join the left 
wing of the American forces, under General Stark, at 
Medford, near Boston. He, with his company, took part in 
the battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June, 1775. His 
first commission under the Continental Congress, is in the 
folio wing words : — 

" The Delegates of the United Colonies of New Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, 
Kent, and Sussex, on the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and 
North Carolina, to George Reid, Esq. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. * 231 

"We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your patriot- 
ism, valor, conduct, and fidelitj, do, by these presents, con- 
stitute and appoint-you to be captain of a company in the 
5th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Colonel John Stark. 
By order of the Congress, 

John Hancock, President 
Attest, Charles Thompson, Secretary. 
January 1, 1776." 

Mr. Reid afterwards, in 1777, received the appointment 
of lieutenant-colonel, and in 1778, that of colonel, of the 
second New Hampshire regiment. In 1783, he was, by act 
of Congress, appointed colonel by brevet in the army of the 
United States. In 1 785, he received his commission, from 
the State of New Hampshire, as brigadier-general in the 
State service, signed by John Langdon, president. In 1786, 
he received the appointment of justice of the peace for the 
county of Rockingham, in those days an office of dignity and 
consequence, from his old commander, General John SuUi- 
van, then president of New Hampshire. In 1791, he was 
appointed to the office of sheriiF of the county of Rocking- 
ham. 

In the year 1786, was the celebrated rebellion in New 
Hampshire, of which an account has been already given in 
this work. The fact that General Reid was appointed by 
his old commander and companion-in-arms, General Sulli- 
van, then president of the State, to command the military 
forces called out on this occasion, is satisfactory evidence of 
his character for prudence, courage, and general ability. So 
great was the discontent in his own county, that General 
Reid received several anonymous letters, threatening his 
life, and the destruction of his property by fire, for the part 
he took in quelling the insurrection. So formidable did the 
matter appear to some of his friends, that they entreated him 
not to attend church on the Sabbath, as his life mightfall a 



232 HISTORY OF LONDONDERKY. 

sacrifice if he did so. Disregarding tlieir fears, however, he 
attendêd church as usual, though well armed, and accorn- 
panied by two or tliree of his old militapy companions, who 
insisted upon going with him. On one occasion, a mob sur- 
rounded his house in the night, threatening his destruction. 
He instantly armed, and, though alone, presented himself at 
the window, and harangued the mob, in a calm but firm and 
determined tone, upon the great impropriety of their con- 
duct. The force of his expostulations, and his calm, 
undaunted demeanor, at length induced the crowd to 
disperse; and many of them afterwards expressed their 
deep regret for the course they had taken. There are those 
of General Reid's descendants who remember his indigna- 
tion, when recounting, in after days, the events of that night. 
General Reid held a command in the New Hampshire 
forces during the entire war of the Revolution ; and was in 
the battles of Bunker Hill, Long Island, White Plains, 
Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, and Still- 
water. H« was with the army, and partook of their suffer- 
ings and hardships, during their memorable encampment at 
Valley Forge, in the severe winter of 1777. He w^as also 
with SuUivan, and took an efficiënt part in the expedition 
planned by Washington, against the " Six Nations," to 
avenge the terrible massacres of Wyoming and Cherry 
Valley. He was for some time at West Point ; and during 
the summer of 1782, was in command at Albany, N. Y., the 
head-quarters of the army being at Newburgh. He fre- 
quently received letters from General Washington, and as 
some of them, though on ordinary business, may be interest- 
ing, we here insert them. . 

Head-Quarters, Newhurgh, May 20, 1782. 
Sir: I received your letter of the llth inst., and another 
without date ; the former inclosing the proceedings of a 
court-martial, held for the trial of Shem Kehtfield. Inclosed 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 233 

you have a copy of the General Order, approving the pro- 
ceedings, and a warrant for the execution of the prisoner ; 
the place of execution is left to you. 

The necessity of the contractors furnishing hard bread* 
when required, has been represented to Mr. Morris, who 
will doubtless take measures acccordingly. 

I am, Sir, your very humble servant, 

George Washington. 

Col. Reid, commanding at Albany. 

Head-Quarters, Neivhiirgh, July 10, 1782. 

Dear Sir: I am favored this moment with your letter of 
the 2d inst. The intelligence communicated therein appears 
to me to be vague and not perfectly founded ; it ought, how- 
ever, to have so much influence upon our conduct, as to 
excite unusual vigilance and preparation, in order to baffle 
any of the barbarous designs of the enemy, should they 
attempt to carry them into execution. 

For my own part, I am more apprehensive of the country 
on the Mohawk river, than for any other part of the frontier ; 
because I think, from the circumstances, the principal effort 
(should there be any invasion) would be made against it ; 
and therefore it occurs to me, that withdrawing the State 
troops from Saratoga, and that quarter (where they cannot 
be very necessary), and extending them, together with the 
other levies on the frontier of the Mohawk, and at the same 
time concentrating your regiment to the neighborhood of the 
place you mention, would be a judicious plan ; though I do 
not pretend to be myself sufl&ciently acquainted with the 
local situation to determine with absolute certainty on the 
expediency of this disposition. It will, in my opinion, be 
well to consult and arrange with Colonel Willet, who is par- 
ticularly well informed of the geography of the country. 

********** 

I have a confidence that you and the other officers, com- 
20* 



234 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

manding on the frontier, will economize tlie means in your 
possession to the best advantage, and exert all your zeal and 
activily in the public service. 

I am, dear sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

George Washington. 
Col. Reid, commanding at Albany. 

Head-Quarters, Newhurgh^ July 7, 1782. 
Sir : The Honorable Mr. Renden, of Spain, resident at 
Philadelphia, Mr. Holkers, and Mr. Terressen, have a desire 
to see Saratoga, and the field of action in that country. I 
recommend them to your civilities ; and if it should be judged 
expediënt, I desire you will give them such guard, or so 
dispose the troops in the quarter where they are, as to give 
them security in their jaunt. 

I am, sir, your humble servant, 

George Washington. 
Col. Reid, commanding at Albany. 

Mrs. Reid was a woman of rare endowments, and of most 
interesting character. It is related that General Stark, who 
was an intimate friend of the family,once remarked, in refer- 
ence to her': "If there is a woman in New Hampshire, fit 
for governor, 'tis MoUy Reid." A more extended notice of 
her will be found in the account of the family of John Woo^- 
burn. Although left with the care of a family of young 
children, she assumed, during the absence of her husband, — 
which continued, with the exception of a few short and 
hurried visits, a period exceeding seven years, — the entire 
charge of his farm and other business affairs. A few extracts • 
from some of their letters, which have been preserved, may 
not be uninteresting. The constant reference to the Almighty, 
and the confiding trust in him, in regard to their daily cares, 
trials, and anxieties, which is evinced on the part of each of 
them, is a pleasing feature of their correspondence. General 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 235 

Reicl's first letter is dated at Medford, May 30, 1775, a few 
days prior to the battle of Bunker Hill. 

" I have not time," he says, " to give you an account of 
our late engagement, only that God has appeared for us, in 
most imminent danger." 

The next is dated " Camp at Winter Hill, August 10, 
1775. We are daily taking off some of their guards; and 
we expect to make an inroad upon them, some of these 
nights. May God prosper and protect us. I know we have 
your prayers, with many of God's people." 

" I hope yet to live with you in peace and tranquillity, 
when we have subdued the enemies of our country. I com- 
mend you and my dear children to the Shepherd of Israël." 
Same place, "November 22, 1775. As to engaging for 
another season, I cannot as yet inform you. To shrink from 
the cause we have embarked in, would be inglorious and 
dastardly cowardice, and which I hope I may never be 
stigmatized with. K ever I am dismissed, I hope it will be 
with honor. I hope that God will direct me in this case, 
and all others, as may be most to his glory and my eternal 
welfare." • 

The next is from a letter addressed by Mrs. Reid to her 
husband at Ticonderoga, dated " Londonderry, September 8, 
177G. I received your letters of July 6th, and 21st, also 
August lOth, and to the former of those two would say, that 
God has laid you under the greatest obligations. Every 
mercy, every escape, must be accounted for. May we be 
prepared for the great day of account." She goes on to 
argue, with all the acuteness of " one who knew," various 
matters relating to the farm, stock, etc, but concludes with 
the very deferential remark of an obedient wife : " All this, 
with your advice, not otherwise. May the good-will of Him 
who dwelt in the bush, rest and abide with you." 

In a letter dated at Ticonderoga, June 21, 1777, General 
Reid writes as follows ; " Our enemy, according to the most 



236 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

accurate account we can get, is approaching towards us. It 
may be a feint ; but if they do attack us, we are resolved to 
defend ourselves to the last extremity. We could wish our- 
eelves stronger. The Indiaus are lurking about us daily." 
From the same, dated at Valley Forge, December 22, 

1777. " General Howe came out with his whole army, about 
a fortnight since, and drew up in line of battle against us, 
first on our right, and then on our left, in order to draw us 
off some advantageous ground we were in possession of ; but 
being harassed by us on both wings, repeatedly, they thought 
proper to retreat, very precipitately, into Philadelphia. We 
have had several skirmishes with their light horse, and took 
ten horsemen and fifteen horses yesterday. No general 
action has occurred, nor is likely to, this winter. We are 
now making huts to winter in. I feel sympathy for you, but 
cannot be with you ; honor forbids it. May happiness attend 
you and the dear children." 

His next letter is dated " Camp, White Plains, August 3, 

1778. I have just come in from the enemy's lines, at New 
York ; have been down three days on command, and met 

* with a party of the enemy, fired on them, and drove them 
into their lines." 

In relation to a matter at court, Mrs. Reid writes her 
husband as foUows, under date of July 5, 1782, addressed to 
him while in command at Albany. " I informed you in my 
last, that I had employed Mr. Neil, who was attending at 
court, to represent the true state of the affair ; likewise to 
ask a continuance, till you were acquainted with the matter. 
The judge informed me, through Mr. Neil, that I need give 
myself no uneasiness about the matter, for it should be con- 
tinued tillyour return, if that should hcjive and twenty years. 

Under date of June 11, 1783, General Reid writes as 
foUows : " We are in daily expectation of a final dissolution 
of the army. I send by a public wagon a chest, containing 
vai'ious matters for which I have no occasion, and you will 



BIOGRAPHICAL N0TICE9. 237 

find in it tlie old regimental colors and Standard of the regi- 
ment, wliich you will take particular care of, witli soiiie 
papers in the till. I shall make the best of my way to your 
cottage." 

Having faithfully served his native town, State, and coun- 
try, General Eeid died in September, 1815, at the age of 
eighty-two years. His wife survived him eight years, and 
died April 7, 1823, at the advanced age of eighty-eight 
years. 

ROBERT ROGERS. 

Major Robert Rogers was the son of James Rogers, and 
was a native of Londonderry. His father was one of the 
early settlers of the town ; but after a residence here of a 
few years, he removed to Dunbarton, N. H., and was one of 
the first settlers of that town. He was afterwards shot in 
the woods, his fur cap and black clothes being unfortu- 
nately mistaken by a hunter for a bear. 

Major Rogers was appointed captain of one of the three 
companies of rangers raised in 1756, and being subsequently 
l^romoted to the rank of Major, had the entire command of 
that celebrated corps. Many of the rangers were from 
Londonderry, and the immediate vicinity, and in skirmishes 
with parties of the enemy, in scouring the woods, and pro- 
curing intelligence of hostile movements, they performed 
active and important service. Many anecdotes of perilous 
adventure and hairbreadth escape, are related of them. At 
one time. Major Rogers, with a small party of his rangers, 
were nearly surrounded by the Indians, on the north-west 
shore of Lake George. Rogers, being on snow-shoes, made 
the best of his way to the top of a high rock which overhung 
the lake. Having thrown his haversack and other cuni- 
brous articles over the precipice, he turned himself about in 
his snow-shoes, without moving them, and, having fastened 
them on in the reversed position, descended to the lake by 



238 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

another and less precipitous path. The Indians in pursuit, 
arriving at the top of the rock, perceived two sets of tracks 
leading to the rock, and none leading from it, and conse- 
quently supposed that two of the fiigitives had attempted to 
descend to the lake at that place, and had perished. Soon 
after, however, to their astonishment, tliey saw Hogers, at a 
considerable distance, making his escape upon the ice, and 
believing that he had descended the precipice in safety, con- 
cluded that he was under the immediate protection of the 
Great Spirit, and did not venture to pursue him. The rock 
has since been known by the name of" Rogers' Slide." 

In 1759, Major Hogers was sent by General Amherst to 
destroy the Indian village of St. Francis. In 1766, he was 
appointed governor of Michilimackinac. He was accused of 
constructive treason, and was sent to Montreal for trial, 
would seem, however, that he was honorably acquitted, as, in 
1767, he went to England, and Avas presented to the king. 
He afterwards returned to America, ^nd, in the Revolution, 
espoused the royal cause. His name was on the list of tories 
proscribed by the act of New Hampshire of 1778. In 1777, 
he again went to England, where he died. He published, at 
London, in 1765, a journal of the military services of the 
rangers, which was republished at Concord, N. H., in 1831. 

The following anecdote is found in the first volume of the 
Historical Collections, by Farmer and Moore. 

" It is reported of Major Rogers, that while in London 
after the French war, being in company with several persons, 
it was agreed, that the one who told the most improbable 
story, or the greatest falsehood, should have his fare paid by 
the others. When it came to his turn, he told the company, 
that his father was shot in the woods of America, by a person 
who supposed him to be a bear ; and that his mother was 
foliowed several miles through the snow by hunters, who 
mistook her track for that of the same animal. It was 
acknowledged by the whole company, that the Major had 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 239 

told the greatest lie, when, in fact, he had related nothing 
but the truth." 

JOHN STARK. 

The first company of emigrants who formed the settlement 
of Londonderry, were soon foliowed by a large number of 
their countrymen. Among these, was Archibald Stark, who 
arrived in 1722. He, like many of these emigrants, was a 
native of Scotland, and emigrated while young to London- 
derry in Ireland. 

John Stark, the second of four sons, was born in London- 
derry on the 28th of August, 1728. In 1736, his father 
removed from Londonderry to Derryfield, now Manchester. 
In 1752, John Stark went in company with his elder brother, 
"William, David Stinson of Londonderry, and Amos East- 
man of Concord, upon a hunting excursion to Baker's river, 
in the northern part of the State. While there, they were 
surprised by a party of Indians. Stinson was killed, and 
William Stark effected an escape. John, though a youth, 
evinced uncommon bravery on the occasion, but was carried, 
with Eastman, into captivity, and remained three months 
with the tribe established at St. Francis. At the end of this 
time, he was redeemed by Captain Stevens of Charlestown, 
N. H., and Mr. Wheelwright of Boston, who had been sent 
by the General C«urt of Massachusetts to redeem some of 
the citizens of that provioce, who had been carried into cap- 
tivity. Not finding those from Massachusetts of whom they 
were in search, they liberally paid the ransom of Stark and 
Eastman, one hundred and three dollars for the former, and 
sixty for the latter. 

While in captivity with the Indians, Stark manifested 
those strong traits of character by which he was distinguished 
in subsequent life. " He appears," says his biographer, " to 
have caught the humor of the Indians, and, by observing 
their manners and character, to have known how to approach 
them on the side of their prejudices." This, the following 
incidents may serve to illustrate. 



240 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

It was the universal practice of the North American 
Indians to compel their captives to pass between the young 
warriors of the tribe, ranged in two lines, each furnished with 
a rod, and prepared to strike the prisoners as they passed. 
On the present occasion, Eastman was severely whipped as 
he passed through the lines. Stark, more athletic and adroit, 
and better comprehending the Indian character, snatched a 
club from the nearest Indian, laid about him to the right and 
left, scattering the Indians before him, and escaped with 
scarcelj a blow ; greatl y to the delight of the old men, who 
sat at some distance, witnessing the scène, and enjoying the 
confusion of their young warriors. 

On one occasion he was ordered by them to hoe their corn. 
Well aware that they regarded labor of this kind as fit only 
for squaws and slaves, he took care to cut up the corn and 
spare the weeds, in order to give them a suitable idea of his 
want of skill in unmanly labor, and at length threw his hoe 
into. the river, declaring, " it was the business, not of warriors, 
but of squaws, to hoe corn." This spiritéd deportment gained 
him the title of " young chief," and the lionor of adoption into 
ike tribe. 

In 1754, the great Seven Years' war, which grew out of the 
struggle between the British and the French for the posses- 
sion of North America, in reality commenced. A corps of 
rangers was enlisted in New Hgmpshire for the service, 
under the command of the famous Major Robert Hogers. 
Stark's experience fitted him for this service, and his char- 
acter being already so well established, he received a com- 
mission as lieutenant in this company. The regiment to 
which it belonged, was commanded by Colonel Blanchard. 
During this long war, in which he continued to serve to its 
close, by his many fierce encounters with the savage tribes, 
and the sanguinary conflicts in which he led that invincible 
body of men, the New Hampshire rangers, he thoroughly 
inured himself to toil and danger, and proved that he was a 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 241 

man of indomitable courage, uncommon military skill, and 
great original resource. He served with this company during 
the successful campaign of 1755 ; and in the winter of 1757, 
he conducted the retreat, after the bloody battlq^near lake 
George. In th^ attack upon Ticonderoga, in June, 1758, he 
behaved with great sagacity and bravery. In this action 
feil the young and gallant Lord Howe, deeply mourned by 
the whole army, and between whom and Stark a strong 
friendship existed. At the capture of Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point, Stark rendered efficiënt service to Lord Am- 
herst. At the close of the war he retired with the reputation 
of a brave and vigilant officer, and betook himself to the 
ordinary pursuits of domestic life. 

When the report of the battle at Lexington reached him, 
he was engaged at work in his saw-mill. "Within ten min- 
utes after the news had been received, he had mounted his 
horse, and was on his way to Cambridge, having left direc- 
tions for such of his neighbors as might choose to volunteer, 
to meet him at Medford. The morning after his arrival, he 
received a colonel's commission, and availing himself of his 
own popularity, and the enthusiasm of the day, in a few 
hours he enlisted eight hundred men. On the ever-memor- 
able 17th of June, 1775, Stark's regiment formed the left of 
the American line, and he maintained through the whole 
conflict his usual coolness and intrepidity. At the head of 
his backwoodsmen from New Harapshire, he poured on the 
enemy that deadly fire from a sure aim, which effected such 
remarkable destruction in their ranks and compelled them 
twice to retreat. He fought until the American forces had 
quite exhausted their ammunition, and were almost surround- 
ed by the British troops, when he succeeded in securing the 
retreat of his men in perfect order. 

After the British evacuated Boston, Col. Stark joined the 
Northern army, while retreating from Canada, and had 
command of a party of troops who were employed in fortify- 

21 



242 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

ing the post of Mount Independence. During the campaigii 
in New York, he bore an active part. On the morning of 
the 26th of December, 1776, when the Hessians were sur- 
prised an^defeated at Trenton by "Washington, Stark, with 
his regiment, led the van, and contributed his full share to 
this brilliant enterprise, in which nearly a thousand were 
taken prisoners. After this engagement, he marched with 
the commander-in-chief to Princeton, and was also present 
at the battle of Springfield, in New Jersey. 

But the battle of Bennington, on the 16th of August, 1777, 
the darkest and most desponding period of the Revolution, 
was one of the most decisive victories gained during the war, 
and was by far the most brilliant of Stark's numerous ex- 
ploits^ It breathed new ardor into the drooping spirits of 
our Northern army, animated the hearts of the people, and 
completely prostrated the high hopes of Burgoyne, not only 
costing him more than one thousaild of his best troops, 
but whoUy deranging the jjlan of his campaign, and materi- 
ally contributing to the loss of his army. In his movements 
on this occasion, Stark acted independently of any superior 
officer. In the preceding spring, a new list of promotions 
had been made, in which his name was omitted, and those of 
junior officers were found. It was impossible for a man of 
his lofty spirit and unbending character, to acquiesce in what 
he considered an injurious disregard of his fair pretensions 
ta advancement. He therefore immediately retired from the 
army, declaring to those who would have dissuaded him from 
executing his purpose, that an officer who would not main- 
tain his rank and assert his own rights, could not be trusted 
to vindicate those of his country. But though dissatisfied with 
his own treatment, he was in no dcgree disaffected to the 
cause. When therefore called upon, by the General As- 
sembly of New Harapshire, to take the command of the troops 
which they were about to raise, in order to defend their fire- 
sides and their homes against a formidable ai'my, which was 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 243 

penetrating the States from Canada, he consented to assume 
it on condition that he should not be obliged to join the main 
army, but be allowed to exercise his own discretion as to his , 
movements, and-be accountable to none but the authorities 
of New Hampshire. His conditions were complied with. 
Hence, when órdered by General Schuyler, commander of 
the Northern department, to conduct his troops to the west 
bank of the Hudson, Stark declined, communicating to Gen- 
eral Schuyler the authority under which lie was acting, and 
stating the dangerous consequences to the people of Vermont, 
of removing his forces from their borders. Although Con- 
gress passed a resolution, disapproving of the course pursued 
by General Stark, yet his refusal was founded upon the 
soundest views of the state of things, and was productive of 
inestimable benefits, as the event soon proved. General 
Stark, on the achievement of his victory, communicated the 
intelligence of it to General Gates. He also transmitted 
official Information of it to the State authorities of New 
Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts, whose troops were 
engaged with him in the contest. To each qf these three 
States, he sent trophies of the battle, taken from the field. 

As his letter to Congress, some months before, on the sub- 
ject of his rank, had lain on the table unanswered, he forbore 
to write to them, even to communicate the tidings of his 
triumph. They, however, wisely chose to take the first step 
towards a reconciliation, and though they had passed their 
resolution, censuring his assumption of a separate command, 
yet, on the 4th of October, Congress passed the foUowing 
resolution : — 

" That the thanks of Congress be presented to General 
Stark, of the New Hampshire militia, and the officers and 
* troops under his command, for their brave and successful 
attack upon, and victory over, the enemy in their lines, at 
Bennington ; and that General Stark be appointed a briga- 
dier-general in the armies of the United States." 



244 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

Several anecdotes relating to this signal encounter of the 
enemy have been recorded. Almost eveiy one has heard 
of the pithj address he made to his troops on this occasion, 
but it will bear repeating. The ground bad been chosen 
with deliberation and skill, the plan of the battle had been 
agreed upon, and small parties had been sent forward to 
reconnoitre. Pointing out the enemy to his troops, he 
exclaimed, " I will gain the victorj over them in the ap- 
proaching battle, or Molly Stark will be a widow to-night." 

Another anecdote raay be noticed, as it serves to illustrate 
the spirit of the times, and the ardor which was enkindled to 
meet and repel the foe. '' Among the reinforcements from 
Berkshire, Mass., came a clergyman with a portion of his 
flock, resolved to make bare the arm of flesh against the 
enemies of the country. Before daylight, on the morning of 
the battle, he addressed the commander as foUows ; ' We, the 
people of Berkshire, have been frequently called upon to 
fight, but have never been led against the enemy. We have 
now resolved, if you will not let us fight, never to turn out 
again.' General Stark asked if he wished to march then, 
when it was dark and rainy. ' No,' was the answer. ' Then,' 
continued Stark, ' if the Lord should once more give us sun- 
shine, and I do not give you fighting enough, I will never ask 
you to come again.' The weather cleared up in the course of 
the day, and the men of Berkshire foliowed their spiritual 
guide into action." 

General Stark, after this, volunteered his services under 
General Gates at Saratoga, and assisted in the council which 
stipulated the surrender of Burgoyne ; nor did he withhold 
his valuable services till he could greet his native country as 
an independent empire. 

General Stark was of the middle stature, and well propor- 
tioned. In his early years, he was remarkable for his 
strengüh, activity, and ability to endure fatigue. His man- 
ners were frank and unassuming, but he manifested a pecu- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 245 

Har sort of eccentricity and negligence, whicli precluded all 
display of personal dignity, and seemed to place him among 
those of ordinary rank in life. But as a courageous and 
heroic soldier, he is entitled to a high rank among those to 
whom a large share of glory is justly due. He was an object 
of respect, such as is due to age, patriotism, and public ser- 
vice of the most brilliant cast, in trying times. He died on 
the eighth of May, 1822, in the ninety-fourth year of his age, 
and was buried with the honors of war. 

His remains were deposited in a tomb which a few years 
before had ^been erected at his request, upon a rising 
ground on the bank of the Merrimack, near the place of his 
residence. A monument, consisting of a block of granite, in 
the form of an obelisk, has been erected by his family on the 
spot, with the simple inscription, " Major-General Stark." 

In 1757, General Stark was married to Elizabeth Page, 
daughter of Captain Page, of Danbarton, by whom he had 
several children, some of Avhom still survive. 

It is justly mentioned as an extraordinary circumstance 
in his life, that, frequently as he was engaged in battle, in 
two long wars, he never received a wound. His horse was 
killed under him in the battle of Bennington. 

As illustrative of General Stark's character for bravery, 
amounting on some occasions, when he had an object in 
view which he deemed it important to accomplish, to a 
daring recklessness of life, we may here relate an instance. 

Having volunteered his services under General Gates, 
previous to the capitulation of Burgoyne, he selected, as one 
of his aids on that occasion. Mr. Robert MacGregor (son of 
Rev. David MacGregor), who was then quite a young man, 
and a near neighbor of his. Hie forces being separated by 
the British troops, from the main body under Gates, the 
only avenue to Gates's quarters lay directly through a con- 
tinuous line of the enemy'^ pickets. One night, Stark 
suddenly thought of a communication which he desired to 

21* 



246 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

make to Gates, and without a moment's hesitation on account 
of the peril of life, which was imminent, instantly despatched 
MacGregor, with the message. MacGregor, who counted 
not the risk, immediately obeyed the order, and mounting 
his horse, set off at fuU speed. On being repeatedly chal- 
lenged by the enemy's sentinels, with the stern question, 
" Who goes there ? " enforced at the point of the bayonet, 
his uniform, brief, and very adroit answer — which undoubt- 
edly saved his life — was, " I have orders from the General," 
and at the same instant, clapping spurs to his horse, he rode 
on. The sentinels, put off their guard, and deceived by 
his manner, mistook him for one of their own officers, 
and each, in turn, suffered him to pass. On arriving at the 
camp of Gates, the latter, in much surprise, accosted him 
with the question, " For God's sake, where did you come 
from, sir ? " MacGregor duly explained his errand, when 
Gates replied, " Stark is mad, sir ! " and immediately ordered 
him to take his position with his own aids, and on no account 
to return to Stark. 

SAMUEL TAGGART. 

Rev. Samuel Taggart was the son of elder James Taggart, 
of Londonderry, and was born about the year 1754. He 
graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1774, in the same class 
with Captain David MacGregor, Joseph McKeen, D. D., 
and Rev. James Miltimore ; all natives of Londonderry. 
About the year 1781, he was ordained pastor of the Presby- 
terian church and society in Coleraine, Mass.' In 1803, he 
was elected representative in Congress, which office he 
retained fourteen years. His connection with the church 
and society at Coleraine coniinued during the time he was a 
member of Congress, and until the close of his life. 

Although Mr. Taggart was somewhat eccentric, he pos- 
sessed a strong mind, and was wgW informed on almost e very 
important subject. His memory was remarkably retentive. 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 247 

He once remarked that he knew the name of every one who 
had been a member of Congress during his congressional life, 
and could give a description of his person. As a politician, 
Mr. Taggart acquired some celebrity, but as a pastor, he is 
said to have been in some resj)ects deficiënt. In his person, 
he was very large and corpulent. He married EHzabeth 
Duncan, daughter of George Duncan, of Peterborough, 
N. H. He died at Coleraine, April 25, 1821, aged seventy- 
one years. 

ISAAC THOM. 

Dr. Isaac Thom, son of William Thom and Elizabeth 
Wiar, was born in Windham, N. H., March 1, 1746. In 
1769, at the age of twenty-three, he commenced the practice 
of medicine, in his native town. He was verj successful, 
and remained there about thirteen years. In 1782, he 
removed to Londonderry, where he continued to pursue his 
profession until 1795. He was highly esteemed as a physi- 
cian, had an extensive practice, and became somewhat dis- 
tinguished by the discovery and adoption of improved modes 
of practice, in certain cases. He was ajustice of the peace, 
and for several years did a large proportion of the business 
appertaining to that office in the town. He was the first 
postmaster appointed in the town. He married. November 
17, 1769, Persis Sargent, daughter of E-ev. Nathaniel P. 
Sargent, of Methuen, Mass.^ and sister of Chief Justice Sar- 
gent, of Massachusetts. She died June 23, 1821. He died 
July 13, 1825. He had two children who died in infancy, 
and nine who lived to adult age, namely, Christopher S., 
William S., Persis, Susan, Isaac, James, Nathaniel, Eliza, 
and George. Of these but three survive, Persis, widow of 
Hon. John Bell, James, and Eliza, wife of Alanson Tucker, 
Esquire. 

MATTHEW THORNTON. 

Hon. Matthew Thornton was born in Ireland, in 1714. 
Two or three years subsequent to his birth, his father, James 



248 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



Thornton, emigrated with his familj to this country. He at 
first resided at Wiscasset, Me. In a few years, lie removed 
to Worcester, Mass., where he conferred the benefits of an 
academical education upon his son, whom he designed for 
one of the learned professions. The son accordingly pursued 
tlie study of medicine, and commeneed practice in London- 
derry, among those who were from his native land, and who 
proverbially possess warm national remembrances. Here 
he acquired a high and extensive reputation as a physician, 
and in the course of several years of successful practice, 
became comparatively wealthy. He took an active and 
influential part in the affairs of the town, sustaining several 
public offices. 

In 1745, Dr. Thornton joined the expedition against Cape 
Breton, as a surgeon, in the New Hampshire division of the 
army, consisting of five hundred men ; and it is a creditable 
evidence of his professional abilities, and of the attention of 
the medical department, that from among that number of 
soldiers only aix individuals died, previous to the surrender 
of the town, notwithstanding they had been subjected to 
excessive toil and constant exposure. The troops, a company 
of whom were from this town, under the command of Cap- 
tain John Moor, animated with enthusiastic ardor, readily 
encountered all the labors and dangers of the siege, and 
were employed, during fourteen successive nights, with 
straps over their shoulders, and sinking to the knees in mud, 
in drawing cannon from the landing-place to the camp, 
through a morass. 

At the commencement of the revolutionary war, Dr. 
Thornton held the rank of a colonel in the militia. He was 
also commissioned as justice of the peace, under the admin- 
istration of Benning Wentworth. 

Soon after General Gage had opened the bloody drama 
of war, at Lexington and Concord, on the 19th of April, 
1775, the British government in New Hampshire was term- 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 249 

inated by the retirement of Governor Wentworth. ''Dr. 
Thornton, amid the perilous and appalling scène which the 
country exhibited, was appointed to the presidency of the 
Provincial Convention. On the 12th of September, 1776, 
he was appointed, by the house of representatives, a delegate 
to represent the State of New Hampshire in Congress. He 
did not take his seat in that illustrious body until November 
followin^, being four months after the passage of the Decla- 
ration of Independence ; but he immediately acceded to it, 
and his signature is enroUed among those of the fifty-six 
worthies, who have immortalized their names by that mem- 
orable act. He was subsequently appointed a judge of the 
Superior Court of New Hampshire, having previously 
received the appointment of Chief Justice of the Court of 
Common Pleas. He removed from Londonderry to Exeter. 
After residing there a few years, he fixed his residence in 
Merrimack, having purchased the large estate of Edward 
Goldstone Lutwyche, Esq., which, in consequence of his 
joining the English, on the Declaration of Independence, 
was confiscated. It was situated on the Merrimack river, 
near Lutwyche's Ferry (as it was then called), now Thorn- 
ton's Ferry. 

Judge Tliornton died while on a visit to his daughter, Mrs. 
John McGaw, at Newburyport. His remains were conveyed 
to Merrimack, and interred in the graveyard near his dweil- 
ing. His monument bears the following inscription : " Erect- 
ed to the memory of the Hon. Matthew Thornton, Esq., who 
died June 24, 1803, aged. eighty-nine years. The honest 
man." 

The following anecdote of Judge Thornton, may serve as 
an example of that ready wit which he possessed in common 
with most of the Scotch-Irish race. 

About the year 1798, the legislature of New Hampshire 
convened at Amherst, about eight miles from the residence 
of Judge Thornton, who found it convenient to attend, as a 



250 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

spectator, and listen to the debates. While there, he hap- 
pened to meet a gentleman from a neighboring town, by the 

name of D , who had formerly lived a near neighbor to 

him in Londonderrj, and who was then a member of the 

legislature. Mr. D was a man who possessed a fair 

share of natural talent, but who seemed by no means dis- 
posed to underrate his own consequence. During their 

conversation, Mr. D asked the Judge, if he did not 

think the legislature had improved very much since he 
(Mr. Thornton) held a seat in it, and if it did not then 
possess more men of natural and acquired abilities, and more 
eloquent speakers, than it did when he (Mr. Thornton) was 
a member. " For then," said he, " you know, that there 
were but five or six who could make speeches ; but now, all 
we farmers can make speeches." To this question, Judge 
Thornton, with his usual good-humor, replied, " To answer 
that question, I will teil you a story I remember to have 
heard related of an old gentleman, a farmer, who lived but 
a short distance from my father's residence, in Ireland. This 
old gentleman was very exemplary in his observance of 
religious duties, and made it a constant practice to read a 
portion of Scripture, every morning and evening, before 
addressing the throne of grace. It happened one morning, 
that he was reading the chapter which gives an account of 
Samson's catching three hundred foxes ; when the old lady, 
his wife, interrupted him by saying, ' John ! I'm sure that 
canna' be true ; for our Isaac was as good a fox-hunter as 
there ever was in the country, and he never caught but 
about twanty.' 'Hooh! Janet,' replied the old gentleman, 
' ye mauna' always tak' the Scripture just as it reads. 
Perhaps in the three hundred, there might ha' been 
aughteen, or may be twanty, that were raal foxes, the rest 
were all skunks and woodchucks.'" 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 251 

JAMES WILS ON.* 

James Wilson, who lias the honor of being the maker of 
the first pair of terrestrial and celestial globes ever made in 
America, is the son of James Wilson who lived in the South 
Range. His grandfather, James Wilson, emigrated from 
Londonderry in Ireland, to Londondeny, N. H., soon after 
the settlement of the place, and had thirteen children. 
James, the father of the subject of this notice, had four sons : 
James, Robert, David, and Samuel, and several daughters. 
Of these sons, James and David are now (1850) living in 
Bradford, Yt., and Robert in Derry. James was born in 
1763. He early feit a strong love of knowledge, and gave 
proof of talents of the right stamp for acquiring it; but 
feit constrained by circumstances to devote himself to the 
laborious occupation of a farmer. Up to the age of thirty- 
three, he pursned that employment in the place of his 
nativity, not however without reading, observation, and 
reflection. His inclination and genius turned his thoughts 
and studies especially to geography and astronomy, with 
the means of their illustration. In the year 1796, he 
removed with his family to Bradford, Yt., and took up his 
permanent abode on a farm which he purchased there, on 
the Connecticut river, about one mile north of the village. 
When about thirty-six years of age, Mr. Wilson had the 
pleasure of seeing and examining a pair of English globes ; 
and resolved to imitate them. He commenced with balls 
turned from blocks of wood, which «he nicely covered with 
paper, and scientifically finished off, with all the lines and 
representations which belong to such apparatus, drawn upon 
them. 

This rude beginning was foliowed by a much better 
method. The solid balls were thickly covered with layers 

^ This notice of James Wilson is copied, with but little alteration, 
from an article which appcarcd, a few years ago, in a ncwspaper pub- 
lished in Vermont. 



252 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

of paper, firmly pasted together. This shell was tlien 
divided into liemispheres, which, being removed, were again 
united, and finished with du e regard to liglitness and smooth- 
ness. But how were these spheres to be covered with maps, 
equal to those of the European artists ? Mr. "Wilson pro- 
cured copper plates of sufficiënt size for his thirteen-inch 
globes, protracted his maps on them in sections, tapering, as 
the degrees of longitude do, from the equator to the poles, 
and engraved them with such admirable accuracy of design, 
that when cut apart and duly pasted on his spheres, the edges 
with their lines, and even the different parts of the finest 
letters, would perfectly coincide, and make one surface ; 
truly representing the earth or celestial constellations. 

Though in the use of the graver he was self-taught, and 
this species of design and engraving was incomparably more 
difficult than plain work, yet, by his ingenuity and incred- 
ible perseverance, he succeeded admirably, and brought forth 
globes, duly mounted, and in all respects fitted to rival in 
market any imported from foreign countries. In the prose- 
cution of this work. Mr. Wilson doubtless derived important 
assistance from the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, which consti- 
tuted the principal part of his library. 

He published the first edition of his globes in 1814; and 
personally presented to the people of Boston the first Amer- 
ican globes which were seen there. Quite a sensation was 
produced among the literati by such a novelty ; and when 
earnest inquiry was made, " Who is this James Wilson ? 
where is he ? " he has been heard to say that he feit exceed- 
ingly mortified, in consideration of his rustic garb and 
manners, when obliged to come out and confess himsclf. 
But the gentlemen in question knew how to prize his 
talents, and were proud of the honor which he had done to 
his country. They encouraged him to prosecute his under- 
taking, by the assurance that he should find a ready market 
for all the globes he could fumish. For a time he pursued 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 253 

his vocation on a small sCale, at Bradford, Vt., and also at 
Londonderiy, N. H., but finally, in company with his sons, 
who inherited a good share of their father's taste and inge-- 
nuity, lie established, about the year 1815, a large manufac- 
tory in Albany, N. Y., and in 1826, brought out from fresh 
engravings a still more perfect and splendid edition. These 
globes, consisting of three different sizes, so elegantly and 
scientifically constructed, are an honor not only to their 
makers, but to the American people. Tiie manufactory 
at Albany is yet sustained ; though the young artists who' 
commenced it went down to early graves, and their aged 
father, not long after, wholly withdrew himself from the 
business. 

Mr. Wilson, with a remnant of his once flourishing fam- 
ily, is still (1850) living on his farm in Bradford, and at the 
age of eighty-six years, retains his strength, especially of 
mind, in a remarkable degree. His love for geograjAij, 
astronomy, and the mechanica! arts connected with them, 
remains unabated. Since he was eighty years of age, he has 
contrived, and with his own hands constructed, a machine, 
which finely illustrates the diurnal and annual revolutions of 
the earth, the cause of the successive seasons, and the sun's 
place for every day of the year in the ecliptic. These move- 
ments are produced by turning a crank, which causes the 
earth to revolve about the sun in the plane of the ecliptic ; 
always retaining its true relative position. The machine is 
also furnished with the means of enabling the student to see 
and understand precisely what is meant by the precession of 
the equinoxes, a difficult thing without some such means of 
illustration. The large copper plat e, on which are printed. 
the months of the year, with their days, and the corresponding 
signs of the zodiac, with their degrees, was engraved by Mr. 
Wilson, after he was eighty-three years of age. Can a sim- 
ilar instance anywhere be found? 

A specimen of this curieus apparatus may be seen at 

22 



254 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Thetford Academy, Bradford Aca'demy, or at Mr. Wilspn's 
residence ; which last is an improvement on the others. 
Every academy ought to have something of the sort ; and 
the aged and very ingenious maker ought to realize some 
profit from so scientific and useful a contrivance. The 
machine, for the want of a more definite name, is called 
Wilson's Planetarium ; the latter term he used in a restricted 
sense. If this planetarium should be thought clumsy, still, it 
finely illustrates what it was intended to do, and it may yet 
be reduced to any degree of elegance. It would in any fam- 
ily be an appropriate accompaniment to Wilson's globes. 



GENEALOGICAL HISTORY. 

The following sketches of the families of some of the early 
settlers of Londonderry, are derived in part from records 
and in part from traditions and the recollections of aged 
people. It can hardly be expected that, depending as they 
do in some measure upon the memory of the aged, they 
should be entirely free from error. But as they have been 
prepared with much care, it is believed .hat they will, with 
but rare exceptions, be found correct. There were many 
important and respectable families, of which no information 
sufficiënt for a connected sketch could be obtained. 

The names of the first ancestors of the families in Amer- 
ica, are printed in small capitals ; those of their children, in 
italics, and where perspicuity seems to require it their grand- 
cbildren are designated by numerals. 

FAMILY OF WILLIAM ADAMS. 

WiLLiAM Adams emigrated from the north of Ireland to 
this town, soon after its settlement, and settled upon the 
farm now owned and occupied by Nathaniel Brown. He 
had five sons, as follows : — 

James, who had eight children, namely, James, Mary, Wil- 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 255 

liam, of wliom a short notice has been given, Elizabeth, 
Sarah, Samuel, Rachel, and David. David, the youngest son, 
married Janet Wilson, daughter of Colonel Robert Wilson, 
in 1 800 ; and had nine children, namel j, Jane, James, Mary 
M., Robert W., William, David B., John B., Jonathan, and 
a child that died in infancy. 

Jonathan^ who was born in 1729 and died in 1820. He 
raarried Sarah Smith, and settled on the farm now occupied 
by his grandson, Captain Josiah H. Adams. He was an 
active, energetic man ; was a soldier in the Revolution, and 
snbsequently held the commission of captain in the militia. 
He had six children, as follows : 1 . Jane, who died unmar- 
ried. 2. Jonathan, who lived with his parents and retained 
the homestead. He was a very worthy man ; was distin- 
guished for his frankness and sincerity, and waS for many 
years an elder in the church. His children were William, 
Josiah H., Daniel M., Jabez F., Sarah Jane, and Moses. 
3. William, who married Margaret Duncan, and had three 
children, Mary, Jane, and Sarah. 4. James, who married 
Judith Rolfe, and had ten children, namely, Jonathan, Ann 
R., Joseph R., James, Jane S., Sarah, John S., Elizabeth, 
Lucinda, and Henry R. 5. Mary, who married William 
Eayres, and removed to Rutland, Vt. 6. Susannah, who 
died unmarried. 

Samuel, who settled at Casco Bay. 

William and David, of whom no Information has been 
received. 

FAMILY OF EDWARD AIKEÏ^^. 

ED^yARD AiKEN emigrated from the north of Ireland to 
this town, about the year 1722, and settled on the farm now 
owned by John Folsom, Esq., and which continued in the 
possession of his descendants more tlian a century. Edward 
Aiken had three sons, who settled in Londonderry, Nathan- 
iel, James, and William. Nathaniel lived on his father's 



256 * HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

farm, James on the farm iiow owned by Mr. Bradford, aqd 
"William on tliat owned by Mr. David Carr. Hence that 
neigliborhood was early designated as the " Aiken's Range." 

Nathaniel, the eldest son, had five sons. Edward, John, 
James, Thomas, and William. Edward settled in Windham, 
Vt., and was the grandfather of Rev. Samuel^C. Aiken, of 
Cleaveland, Oliio. John, the grandfather of Hon. John 
Aiken, of Andover, Mass., and of Rev. Silas Aiken, of Rut- 
land, Vt., settled in Bedford, N. H. James remained in 
Londonderry, and had a large family of sons and daughters. 
Thomas and William, the two youngest sons, settled in 
Deering, N. H., and had large families. Many of their 
descendants still remain in that town. 

James had three sons and three daughters. His son 
James com'menced a settlement in Antrim, N. H. ; and his 
family was the first and only one in that town for several 
years. His son John inherited his farm, and had several 
sons, some of whom removed to Benson, Vt. 

William had two sons, Edward and William. Edward 
settled in Windham, Vt., and had several sons and daugh- 
ters. William removed to Truro, Nova Scotia. 

Of the descendants of this early and very respectable 
family of the settlers of Londonderry, no correct and full 
account has been obtained, except of one branch, that of 
John, the second son of Nathaniel, the elde^ son of Edward. 
The statistics of his numerous descendants have been recently 
collected by Hon. John Aiken, of Andover, a synopsis of 
which is here inserted. 

John Aiken was born November 18, 1728. In 1758, he 
married Annis Orr, eldest daughter of John and Margaret 
Orr, of Bedford. They resided in Londonderry eight or ten 
years, after their marriage, when they removed and settled 
in Bedford, where they passed the residue of their days. 
Their children were John, Phineas, Margaret, Susanna, 
Annis, Sarah, Mary, and Jane. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 257 

John, their eldest son, married Mary McAfee, of Bedford, 
in 1781, and ten years afterwards removed to Merrimack, 
N. H., where he died. He had twelve children, namely, 
Sarauel, Marj, Annis, Susan, Sarah, Jesse, John, Phineas, 
Jane, Lucinda, Benjamin F., and Eliza F. 

Phineas married. December 8, 1789, Elizabeth Patterson, 
of Amherst, N. H. He died in 1836, having resided in 
Bedford from early childhood. His widow still survives. 
Tiiej had nine children, as folio ws : 1. Nancy P., their 
eldest daughter, was married, in 1809, to Jonathan Aiken, 
of Goffstown, son of Captain James Aiken, of Londonderry. 
He graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1807, and settled in 
Goffstown as an attorney at law. In 1838, he removed 'to 
the State of Illinois, where he died in 1839. His widow still 
survives. Their children were James, David, Elizabeth, 
J5hn C, Charles, Jonathan, Nancy, Henry M., Jane, Silas, 
Walter H., and George E. 2. Lucy, in 1816, married 
Frederick A. Mitchel, M. D., of Bedford, and had seven 
children. 3. Betsey, in 1818, married Isaac Riddle, Jr., 
of Bedford, and had five children. 4. John graduated at 
Dartmouth College, 1819 ; was tutor there for two years 
(1820-1822). Resided in Bennington county, Vt., from 1823 
to 1834, most of the time in the practice of law ; removed to 
Lowell, Mass, in 1834; resided there till 1850, as agent of 
a manufacturing company. In 1849, he was a member of 
the governor's council. In 1850, he removed to Andover, 
Mass., where he now resides, being the treasurer of the 
Cocheco Manufacturing Company, Dover, N. H. He 
married, in 1826, Harriet R. Adams, daughter of Prof. 
Adams, of Dartmouth College, by whom he had three 
children. In 1832, he married Mary M. Appleton, of 
Amherst, daughter of the late president Appleton, by whom 
he has five children. o. Silas graduated at Dartmouth 
College, 1825 ; was tutor there three years (1825-1828) ; 
was settled in the ministry at Amherst, N. H., 1829. He 

22* 



258 HISTORY OF LONDONDEliRY. 

subsequently removcd to Boston, and was for several years 
pastor of Park Street churcli. He is now settled in Rutland, 
Vt. In 1829, he married Mary Osgood, of Salem, Mass., by 
whom he had three children. In 1837, he married Sophia 
Parsons, of Amherst, Mass., by whom he has two children. 
6. Charles, in 1839, married Adeline Willey, of Campton, 
N. H., and had seven children. 7. David, in 1844, married 
Lydia "W. Root, of Greenfield, Mass. She died in 1846, 
and in 1848, he married Mary E. Adams, of Amherst, Mass. 
8. Sarah A., in 1829, married William P. Black, of Man- 
chester, Vt., and had six children. 9. Phineas died in early 
life. 

Margaret, in 1787, married Josiah Chandler, of Goffstown. 
About the year 1799, they removed to Pomfret, Vt., where 
they both died. Their children were Mary B., John A., 
Annis, David, Lucinda, Josiah, and Calvin. 

Susamia, in 1790, married Jonathan Barron, who then 
resided in Merrimack, subsequently in Rockingham, Vt., and 
now resides at Nunda, Livingston county, N. Y. Their 
children were Polly A., Annis, Moses, Harriet, Abel, Sally, 
Lucius H., Quartus H. 

Annis, in 1813, married Abner Campbell, of London- 
derry, and died, in 1839, without issue. 

Sarah, in 1791, married Samuel Gilchrist, of Goffstown, 
N. H., and after his death married, in 1822, Captain Jolm 
Smith, of Goffstown, with whom she still lives. Her chil- 
dren by her first husband were John, Fanny, Alexander, 
Samuel, Sophronia, Jason, Margaret A., James A., and 
Hiram. 

Mary, in 1814, married William Reed, of Litchfield, 
N. H., and had one son, Phineas A. 

Ja7ie, in 1807, married James Aiken, of Goffstown, who 
died in 1809, without issue. In 1831, she married Rev. 
Walter Harris, D. D., of Dunbarton, N. H., who died in 
1843, leaving her a second time a widow. 



aENEALOGiCAL SKETCHES. 259 

According to the statistics of tliis branch of the Aiken 
family it appears, that from this one grandson of Edward 
Aiken, the örst ancestor of the family in this country, there 
are two hundred and sixty-three descendants, two hundred 
and twelve of whom are now living. As Edward Aiken had 
thirteen grandchildren, if the descendants of the other twelve 
were as numerous, the whole number of his descendants 
would be three thousand four hundred and nineteen. 

FAMILY OF JAMES ANDERSON. 

Of the first sixteen settlers of the town, were Allen 
and James Anderson. Allen had no children ; James had 
seven; namely, Samuel, Robert, James, Thomas, David, 
Jane, and Nancy. 

Samuel married Martha Craige, and had four children : 1. 
James married Nancy Armstrong. 2. John married Anna 
Davidson, and for his second wife, Mary Williams. 3. Sam- 
uel married Mary Davidson. 4. Margaret married John 
Graham. 

Robert married Agnes Craige, and had nine children: 1. 
James remained unmarried. 2. John married Jane Wallace. 
3. William married Margaret Wilson. 4. Allen married 
Sally Moor. 5. Robert married Mary Darrah. 6. Samuel 
married Anna Alexander, and removed to Acworth. 7. 
David married Sally Barnett. 8. Mary married James 
Dinsmore. 9. Jane married David Campbell. 

James married Nancy Woodburn, and subsequently widow 
Elizabeth Barnett. By his first wife he had eight children ; 
and by his second wife, four : 1. James, who married Mar- 
garet Reid, was lieutenant under Captain George Reid, 
at the battle of Bunker Hill, and subsequently captain of the 
company, on the promotion of Captain Reid. He continued 
in service during the whole of the war, and died at Troy, N. 
Y., 1827. 2. John married Mary Morrison. He was also 
a short time in the service of his country. 3. Rufus, of 



260 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

whoni a biograpliical sketch has been given. 4. Joseph, 
who removed to the West. 5. Maiy married Thomas Aiken 
of Deering. 6. Margaret married James Moor. 7. Alice 
married the Rev. Joseph McKeen. 8. Nancy married John 
McClary. 9. Alexander married Martha McGilvery. 10. 
Benjamin married Lydia Jackson. 11. William married 
Prudence Ladd. 12. Jane married Alexander McCollom. 

Thomas married Mary Craige, and had seven children: 1. 
Daniel, who married Sarah Nesmith. 2. James, unmarried. 
3. John, unmarried. 4. Mary, who married William Ander- 
son of Candia. 5. Jane, who married Robert Nesmith. 6. 
Martha, who married Robert McClure of Acworth. 7. 
Margaret, unmarried. 

David m.2kVTÏQ^ a Miss Wilson, and had three sons : Robert, 
who married Naomi Aiken, James, and Andrew. 

Jane married Elder James Taggart, and had two sons, 
Samuel, of whom a particular notice has been given, and 
Thomas. 

The children of John, the son of Samuel, and grandson of 
James the first settler, were as follows : Martha, who mar- 
ried David Robinson ; Jesse, who married Martha Morrison ; 
John, who removed to South Carolina, and married there ; 
Samuel, who married Mary Wilson, and afterwards Eliza- 
beth Armstrong ; Sarah, who married John Holmes ; Jane, 
who married John Hills ; James, who married Nancy An- 
derson, and Betsy, who married James Tojvns. 

The children of Margaret,. daughter of Samuel, who mar- 
ried John Graham, were William, Martha, Samuel, Jane, and 
Elizabeth. 

FAMILY OF JOHN ANDERSON. 

John Anderson, with his wife and family, came from 
the north of Ireland and settled in Londonderry as early as 
1725. Their children, John, James, Robert, and Jane, came 
with their parents. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 261 

John married and lived in Londonderry, but died young, 
leaving three cliildren, Matthew, John, an'd Jane. Mattliew 
and John were at the battle of Bunker Hill, and after the 
close of the war, Matthew married Nancy Taylor, daughter 
of Adam Taylor, and John married a Miss Archibald, and 
both removed to Yermont, where they lived and died. Their 
descendants are very numerous in Vermont, New York, and 
the Western States. Jane married David Paul, of the East 
parish in Londonderry, where many of her descendants reside. 

James married Isabel McQueston, about the year 1728, 
and had nine children ; namely, Jane, Hugh, Sarah, Mary, 
James, John, William, Mary Ann, and Joseph. Of these, 
Jane, James, and John died young and unmarried. Hugh 
was out in the wars about the year 1760, and was known to 
have been engaged in a running fight with the French and 
Indians, where his party was overpowered by numbers, and 
was never heard from afterwards. William married Agnes 
Clark, in 1769, and had eight children ; Hugh, Robert, Mary 
Ann, James, William, Letitia, Elizabeth, and John, no 
one of whom survives excepting Mary Ann, who now resides, 
at an advanced age, on the old family homestead in London- 
derry. Hugh, son of William, married Jane Nesmith in 
1797, and left three children ; William, John N., and Eliza- 
beth N., all of whom are living and have numerous descend- 
ants. Robert, son of William, married Sarah Stearns, in 
1804, and eight of his children are now living in New Hamp- 
shire and Massachusetts. William, son of William, married 
Mary Bell, daughter of John Bell, Esq., in 1808, and left two 
dauo-hters, each of whom is married and has several children. 
One of them resides in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the other in the 
State of Ohio. 

Robert married, and resided in that part of Londonderry 
now Manchester, but left no male issue ; his daughters were 
married, and many of tlieir descendants are now living. 

Jane was married, and many of her descendants are now 
living in New Hampshire and Vermont. 



262 HISTORT OP LONDONDERRT. 

The original homestead on which the commori ancestors 
settled in Londonderiy, in 1725, has ever since remained in 
the family, and is now in the possession of their descendants, 
Williara Anderson of Derrj, and John N. Anderson of Lon- 
den derry. 

FAMILY OF JOHN BELL. 

John Bell, though not one of the first of the emigrants 
who began the settlement of Londonderry in April 1719, 
must have arrived there in 1720, as the first mention of his 
name upon the records is in the grant of his homestead, a lot 
of sixty acres, in Aiken's Range, upon which he spent the 
rest of his life, and where his son John always lived. This 
record bears the date of 1720. Other lands were allotted 
him in 1722, and afterwards, to the amount of three hundred 
acres. After commencing a clearing upon a part of his lot 
near the brook, and building a cabin there, he returned in 
1722, to his native country for his wife and two surviving 
daughters, two of his children having died in infancy. 
^ Mr. Bell was born in the vicinity of Coleraine, probably 
in the parisli of Ballymony, in the county of Antrim, in 
1678. He married Elizabeth Todd, a daughter of John 
Todd and Rachel Nelson, and sister of Col. Andrew Todd. 
-He appears to have held a respectable position among his 
townsmen, and for several years held various offices in the 
town. He died July 8, 1743, aged sixty-four years. His 
wife was a person of much decision and energy of character, 
and survived him till August 30, 1771, when she died, aged 
eighty-two years. After their removal to Londonderry, 
they had two soiis and two daughters. 

Samuel, his eldest son, was born September 28, 1723. 
He removed to Cambridge, New York, and married Sarah 
Storow. He, and two of his sons and two brothers-in-law, 
were taken prisoners hj the advance of Burgoyne's army, 
his stock was driven off, and his buildings burned. His 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 263 

sons, John and Matthew, clied not long after their return from 

captivitj. Mr. Bell died about 1803, at the age of eighty, 

leaving many descendants. 

The four daughters of John Bell, all married persons of 

the name of Duncan, three of them brothers, and sons of 
George Duncan, Esq., of Londonderry, and the other a 

nephew, the son of John Duncan, their eldest brother. 

Letitia, born in Ireland, married Deacon George Duncan 

of Londonderry. 

Naomi married Captain William Duncan of Londonderry. 
Elizaheth married James Duncan of Haverhill, Mass. 
Mary married George Duncan of Peterborough, N. H. 
(For the children of these four daughters, see family of 
George Duncan.) 

John^ of whom a biographical sketch has been given, mar- 
ried Mary Ann Gilmore, daughter of James Gilmore and Jean 
Baptiste, and, besides three children who died in early life, 
had five sons and four daughters, as follows: 1. 2. James 
and Ebenezer died in youth. 3. Jonathan died at Chester 
in 1808, leaving no children. 4. John, born Ju ly 20, 1765, 
earP^ engagëd in trade Avith good success, and was elected a 
member of the legislature from Londonderry. About the 
beginning of this century, he s^ttled in Chester, where he 
spent the rest of his life. In 1803, he was elected senator 
for the third district, and served one term. Li 1817, he was 
elected councillor, and continued in that office five years. 
Li 1823, he was appointed Sheriff of Rockingham County 
and held that office until he was elected governor in 1828, 
in which office he served one term. He was fortunate in the 
acquisition of property, and left at his death, in March, 1836, 
a handsome estate. He married Persis, daughter of Dr. 
Isaac Thom, of Londonderry, and had a family of ten chil- 
dren. Of these, one son, Charles Henry, a graduate of Dart- 
mouth College, 1845, alone survives. Governor Bell was 
distinguished through life for sound judgment, accurate 
business habits, and strict integrity. 



264 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

5. Samuel was born Febriiaiy 9, 1770, graduated at Dart- 
mouth College, 1793, studied law witli Hon. Samuel Dana, 
of Amherst, and was admitted to practice in 1796. He 
practised law at Francestown to 1808, and at Amlierst to 
1810.* He was representative in 1804, 1805, and 1806, and 
was speaker tlie two last years. He was senator and pres- 
ident of the Senate in 1807 and 1808, and was councillor in 
1809. In 1812, he removed to a farm in Cliester, where he 
has since resided. In 1816, he was appointed a judge of 
the Superior Court. In 1819 to 1823, he was elected gover- 
nor, and from 1823 to 1835, senator in Congress. He has 
been twice married ; first, to Mehitable B. Dana, daughter of 
Hon. Samuel Dana, by whom he had six children. Three 
sons survive. Hon. Samuel D., justice of the Superior 
Court of New Hampshire, James, counsellor at law, at Gil- 
ford, N. H.,.and Hon. Luther V. Bell, LL. D., superintend- 
ent of the McLean Asjlum, at Somerville, Mass. She 
died in 1810. His second wife is Lucy G. Smith, daughter 
of Jonathan Smith, Esq., of Amherst. They have four sons, 
George and John, students at Dartmouth College, Charles, • 
student at Brown University, and Lewis. 6. Elizabeth^ftied 
June 22, 1786, at the age of twenty-three years. 7. Susan- 
nah married John Dinsmore, Esq., whose sons, John B. of 
Ripley, N. Y., and James (Dartmouth College, 1813,) of 
Walnut Hills, Ky., survive and have families, and other 
descendants remain. 8. Mary married Captain "NYilliam 
Anderson and left two daughters, one of whom married a 
¥ Mr. Dickey, now of Alleghany, Penn. 9. Mary Ann died 
unmarried. 

FA.MILY OF JAMES CLARK. 

James Clark, afterwards Deacon James Clark, one of the 
first settlers of Londonderry, lived on the farm now occupied 
byhis grandson, Deacon Matthew Clark. He had four sons 
and one daughter, namely, John, Samuel, George, Matthew, 
and Eleanor. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 265 

John settled in the western part of Londonderry, and had 
several children. Some of their descendants still reside in 
the town. 

Samael and George settled in the town of Windham. 
Each had a family of children, and some of their descend- 
ants now live in that town, 

Matihew inherited his father's fe,rm in Londonderry. He 
married Margaret Anderson, by wliom he had four sons 
and three daughters ; namely, James, Samuel, Matthew, 
John, Margaret, Mary, and Elizabetli. 

Eleanor married Robert Hemphill, of Windham, and had 
a family of sons and daughters, 

FAMILY OF ROBERT CLARK. 

KoBERT Clark, of the Scotch colony, in Ireland, came to 
Londonderry about the year 1725, and settled on the height 
of land northwest of Beaver Pond. He died in 1775. 
Letitia, his wife, was the daughter of John Cochran, of 
Londonderry in Ireland. She died in 1783. Their children 
were as follows : — 

Wïlltam, who married Anne "Wallace, and settled in New 
Boston, N. H., in 1766. His children were Robert, John, 
Ninian, Rebecca, Anne, and Letitia. 

Johfi, who married Nancy Stinson, lived in Londonderry, 
and died in 1808. His children were Robert, David, Letitia, 
PoUy, Alexander, William, Jane, Betsey, and John. 

Samuel, who married Sarah Holmes, and subsequently, 
Janet Barnett, and died in Londonderry, in 1791. His 
children were Robert, Daniel, Sally, Moses, William, John, 
and Janet. 

Ninian, who married Mary Ramsey, settled in New 
Boston, N. H., and died in 1808. His children were Wil- 
liam, Lydia, Robert, Hugh, Hamilton, Letitia, David, Jona- 
than, and Samuel. 

kL7ie, who married James Crombie, and resided in New 

23 



266 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

Boston. Her children were William, Robert, John, Letitia. 
Jane, James, Samuel, and Clark. 

Letitia, who married Samuel Wallace, and subsequently 
Robert Moor, of Londonderry, and died in 1832, at the age 
of eighty-nine. Her children by her first husband were 
Annis, Letitia, Rebecca, and Sarah ; by her second husband, 
Jane, Mary, and Samuel. 

AgneSy who married William Anderson, and lived in Lon- 
donderry. Her children were Hugh, Eobert, Marianne, 
James, William, Letitia, Elizabeth, and John. 

Elizabethy who married Andrew Mack, of Londonderry. 
Her children were Jane, Letitia, Elizabeth, John, Isabella, 
Robert, Andrew, and Daniel. 

FAMILY OF JOHN CROMBIE. 

John Crombie emigrated from the north of Ireland, and 
settled in Londonderry, about the year 1720. He married 
Joan Rankin, November 17, 1721, and by her bad four sons 
and five daughters ; namely, Hugh, William, James, John 
Elizabeth, Mary, Jane, Nancy, and Ann. 

Hugh lived in Chester, N. H., married, and had a faraily. 

John married Rebecca Barnett, by whom he had three 
sons and two daughters ; namely, William, Moses, John, 
Mary, and Huldah. He was for several years one of the 
selectmen of Londonderry. 

Jqmes married Jane Clark, by whom he had six sons and 
two daughters, as folio ws : 1. William, who married Betsey 
Fairfield, and settled in the State of New York, where he 
still lives. 2. Robert, who married Mary Patterson, and 
lived and died in New Boston, N. H. 3. John, who married 
Lydia Clark, and lived and died in New Boston. 4. Jan.. . 
who married Joanna Jones, studied medicine with Dr. Jon- •. 
formerly of Lyndeborough, N. H., and commenced pract"':* 
in 1798, at Temple, N. H. In 1820, he removed fr(.?n 
Temple to Francestown, N. H., where he continued tn.; 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 267 

practice of medicine, until 1850, when he removed to Derry, 
where he now resides with his son, James H. Crombie, 
M. D. 5. Samuel, who married Maiy Cooledge, and re- 
moved to Waterford, Me., where he was engaged in the 
practice of medicine until his death. 6. Clark, who married 
Lucy Dean, lived for many years in New Boston, and after- 
wards removed to Lowell, Mass, where he still resides. 
7. Jane, who married James Cochran, and still lives in New 
Boston. 8. Letitia. 

In 1783, James Crombie, Sen., removed from London- 
derry to New Boston. All his children were born in Lon- 
donderry, with the exception of Clark, who was born in New 
Boston. 

Elizabeth married William Blair. 

Mary married John Patten, of Chester. 

Jane married Robert Clendenin, 

Nancy married Deacon Peter Calhoun. 

Ann married John Cochran. 

FAMILY OF SAMUEL DICKEY. 

Samuel Dickey, the ancestor of this family, although not 
one of the first, was among the early settlers of Londonderry. 
He settled on the south side of Moose Hill, subduing and 
occupying the farm now possessed by his grandson. Captain 
Joseph Dickey. Mr. Dickey was distinguished for his 
Herculean strength, it being equal to that of two ordinary 
men. He had two sons and five daughters. 

Adam, the elder son, married Jane Nahor, and settled on 
that part of his father's farm now owned by Warren Coffin, 
Esq., where he lived several years ; after which he removed 
to Vermont. In the decline of life, he returned to his native 
town, where he died. 

*■ Betsey, the eldest daughter, married James Betton, Esq., 
several of whose descendants were among the more respect- 
able and influential members of the community. Silas Betton, 



268 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

son of James, pursued a literary course, and graduated at 
Dartmouth College, 1787. He settled as an attorney at law, 
in Salem, N. H. He was for several years a member of the 
New Hampshire legislature, as a representative, and as a 
senator. He was a representative of the State in Congress 
from 1803 to 1807, and high sheriff of Rockingham county 
from 1813 to 1819. He died January 22, 1822. 

The second daiighter married Alexander Parker, of Green- 
field, N. H. 

3Iary married Robert Boyd. Jenny was a deaf mute. 

Martlia married John Cochran, of New Boston. They 
were among the first settlers, and their descendants consti- 
tute some of the more respectable and influential members 
of that community. 

Robert, the yoünger son, inherited the homestead, as well 

as much of that muscular energy that marked the character 

of his father. Of this, his contemporaries are said to have 

had effective demonstration, as they engaged in the athletic 

sports and games of that early period. These practices, 

which served to test and foster the strength, energy, and 

courage of the corabatants, and which are now passed away, 

were adapted to the times, when such physical powers and 

virtues were more requisite than in the present improved 

state of society. Though Mr. Dickey was not quarrelsome 

or revengeful in his disposition, yet, in one of those combats 

so frequent in his day, a stroke of his powerful arm proved, 

most unhappily, fatal to his antagonist. He married Hannah 

Woodburn, of whom a brief notice is given in the account of 

the family of John Woodburn ; and from them descended 

the families of Dickey, now inhabitants of the town, and 

several others who have removed to distant parts of the 

country. Mr. Dickey possessed a generous public spirit and 

kind and hospitable feelings. He died when little past the 

meridian of life. He had eleven children, all of whom lived 

to mature life. Ten still survive, the youngest of whom is 

about fifty years of age. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 269 

These children, while favored with such means of educa- 
tion as the times then afForded, were early accustomed to 
habits of labor and industry. They were.principally trained 
to agricultural pursuits, and their devotedness to husbandry, 
that very useful and honorable employment, forms a distin- 
guishing feature in their family history. Few have engaged 
in mechanical or mercantile business, or in professional life. 

As these ten children Wiire all settled within a few miles 
of the paternal home, their local situation, early friendship, 
and frequent intercourse, have rendered this family, in its 
several branches, remarkable for the intimacy and ,harmony 
which have prevailed among them. Few circles have en- 
joyed more social gatherings, or been less broken by the 
hand of death, than this. " The habits of this family," to use 
the language of one of its members, " are decidedly domestic, 
much less disposed to hazardous sf)eculation and scheming 
enterprise, than to honest toil. Indeed, of all its numerous 
members, none have as yet discovered any other channel to 
competence and character, than hard work ; so much so, 
indeed, that many of them have come to measure character, 
not so much by moral virtues or intellectual attainments, as 
by the amount of hard labor performed. Though none of 
them have shone "conspicuously in the public arena, few have 
reason to blush for their reputation. Though none of them 
boast large fortunes, yet so much have they been favored by 
fortune's smiles, that all enjoy a competence, and at no time 
has any member been dependent, either upon public charity 
or private munificence." 

FAMILY OF GEORGE DUNCAN. 

George Duncax was a son of George Duncan who 
lived and died in Ireland. He came to this country with 
his second wife, Margaret Cross, and his seven children. 
They were John, the eldest by a former marriage, and 
George, William, Robert, Abraham, Esther, and James, by 

23* 



270 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

the second marriage. He was a man of education, and was 
a justice of the peace. 

John married Rachel Todd. They brought with them to 
this countiy four children ; namely, John, George, Abraham , 
and William. The latter was born on the passage. After 
their arrival and settlement in Londonderry, they had five 
other children ; namely, James, Naomi, Polly, Rachel, and 
Rosanna. From this stock are descended John Duncan, 
Esq., of Londonderry, William H. Duncan, Esq., of Han- 
over, N. H., and several families of that name in Antrim, 
and elsewhere. George, son of John, married Mary Bell, 
youngest daughter of John and Elizabeth Bell. They lived 
at Peterborough, where she died, about 1811, aged eighty- 
three. Their children were Elizabeth, who married Rev. 
Samuel Taggart, member of Congress ; Rachel, who married 
Deacon John Todd, of Peterborough ; Sarah ; Esther, who 
married Moses Black, of Boston, Mass. ; a daughter, who 
married Ebenezer Moore, of Peterborough ; Mary, who mar- 
ried Rev. Mr. Wallace, and George, who married Jane 
Ferguson, and removed to Western New York, or Ohio. 
William, son of John, married Jane Alexander, lived many 
years in Londonderry, and had three children, Rosanna, 
Rachel, and Ann. Rosanna married Thomas Lamb, and 
died about 1849, aged eighty-nine. Thomas Lamb of Boston, 
is her son. Rachel and Ann left no children. Rachel, 
daughter of John, married Samuel Archibald, of Nova Scotia, 
and had several children. Among them was the Hon. Sam- 
uel G. W. Archibald, attorney-general of Nova Scotia, who 
lived at Halifax, greatly respected. 

George married Letitia Bell, eldest daughter of John and 
Elizabeth Bell, and lived in Londonderry. He was an elder 
in the church, and died about 1780-5, aged about seventy. 
Their children were as follows : 1. John, who married Mary 
Duncan, was resident in Antrim, which town he represented 
in the legislature, was a State senator, and died in 1822, 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 271 

aged ninety-one. 2. George, wlio removed to the "West. 3. 
James, Esq., of Hancock. He represented that town in the 
legislature, and died about 1804. 4. Josiah. 5. Elizabeth, 
who married James Cimningham, of Pembroke. 6. Letitia, 
(?) who married Alexander Todd. 

William married Naomi Bell, sister of Letitia above men- 
tioned. They lived in Londonderry, where she died, about 
1804, aged eighty-nine. Captain Duncan died about 1798, 
aged eighty-two. Their children were as follows : 1. George, 
of Acworth, who died unmarried. 2. John, of Acworth, rep- 
resentative and colonel, whose sons were Adam, John, and 
Horace. 3. William, who died unmarried. 4. Isaac, of 
Acworth. 5. Rachel, wife of Major John Pinkerton. 6. 
Susannah, wife of Joseph Patterson of Henniker. * 7. Jane, 
wife of Abraham Duncan. 8. Elizabeth, wife of Thomas 
Moore, of Acworth. 9. Margaret, wife of William Adams. 

Rohert moved to Boston, married Isabella Caldwell, and 
had several children. Among their descendants, are the 
families of the late Alden Bradford, and William Stephen- 
son, of Boston, and William Thomas, of Plymouth. 

Abraham married, lived, and died in North Carolina. 

Esther married John Cassan, (?) of Connecticut. 

James married Elizabeth Bell, third daughter of John and 
Elizabeth Bell, and was a merchant in Haverhill, Mass. 
He acquired a large property, and died about 1818, aged 
ninety-two. His wife died, aged about forty-seven years. 
Their children were as follows : 1. John, who died unmar- 
ried. 2. Samuel, of Grantham, N. H., who married a Miss 
Emerson, and had several children. 3. Robert, who was 
representative of Grantham, married a Miss Emerson ; had a 
son, Samuel B., and died in 1807. 4. Abraham, o. Wil- 
liam, who lived at Concord, N. H., and represented that 
town. He married a Miss Harris, and had a son James, a 
daughter Mehitable, who married Andrew McCIary, a 
daughter, who married the late George B. Upham, of Clare- 



272 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

mont, N. H., and a daughter who married a Mr. Shapleigh, 
of Portsmouth, N. H. He died about 1795. Ilis widow 
removed to Ohio with her son James, and died in 1835. 6. 
James, who married Rebecca White, and died about 1822. 
He had two sons, Col. Samuel, who died about 1824, aged 
thirty-four, leaving children, and Col. James H., counsellor at 
law, and representative in Congress, who married Miss Willis, 
and has a large family. 7. Elizabeth, who married a Mr. 
Thatcher, a lawyer, and afterwards George Carter, and is 
living at Boston. 8. Margaret, who is now living, and is 
the widow of Thomas Baldwin, D. D., of Boston. 9. Mary, 
and three others. 

FAMILY OF SAMUEL ELA. 

Samuel Ela removed from Haverhill, Mass., and settled 
in Londonderry, about the year 1755, and died in 1784. 
He had eight children, as follows : — 

Edward married a Miss Colby ; had two children, Edward 
and Nancy, and died in Londonderry. 

Clark married a Miss Fulton, and had one son. 

David married Nancy, the daughter of Deacon Samuel 
Fisher, and widow of William Cunningham, and had five 
children ; namely, Clark, William, Sally, Lois, and Charlotte. 
He lived and died in Londonderry. 

John married Sarah Ferson, and had one child, who died 
in early life. 

Tabitha married Richard Petty, and removed to Thorn- 
ton, N. H. 

Hannah married Jonathan Ferson, and also removed to 
Thornton. 

Mary married Eliphalet Chcney, and removed to Canaan, 
N.H. 

Lois died in childhood. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 273 



FAMILY OF ROBERT GILMORE. 

RoBERT Gilmore was born near Coleraine in Irelaiid, 
and married Mary Ann Kennedy, in that country. They 
emigrated early to Londonderry, where they spent the rest 
of their days. His age at his death was eighty. His chil- 
dren were "William, Robert, John, and James. 

William married Elizabeth . The births of four 

children are recorded upon the town records ; Robert, Mary, 
James, and Anne. 

JRohert lived at Londonderry, where he died about 1780, 
aged eighty. By his first wife, Anne, he had two children, 
James and Elizabeth; and by his second wife, Elizabeth, he 
had three sons and two daughters ; John and Roger, both of 
whom lived in Jaffrey, N. H., William, who lived in Lon- 
donderry, Meriam, and Jemima. 

John died unmarried. 

James married Jean Baptiste. They lived in Londonderry, 
and both died about the same time, of pleurisy. He was 
about fifty years of age. They had a large family, as foUows : 
1. John died at Rockingham, Yt., aged about eighty-one, and 
left a family. 2. Jonathan, who lived at Ira, Vt., married 
a Miss Hunter, and had several children, of whom James, 
Robert, William, and Jonathan, were lately living in Ohio. 
3. James, who was colonel of the eighth regiment, and who 
had several children ; James, John of Belfast, Me., Robert, 
Gawen of Acworth, Baptiste, Jonathan, Jane, Margaret, and 
Ann. 4. Jane, who married Robert Patterson of Saco, Me., 
and had eleven sons and three daughters. 5. Margaret, who 
married George Pattison of Coleraine, Mass., and had six 
sons and one daughter. 6. Elizabeth, who married Samuel 
Wilson, died at Londonderry in 1816, aged eighty-five, and 
had six children; Samuel, Jane (Patterson, afterwards 
Aiken), Elizabeth (Clyde), Rachel (Gregg of Waterford, 
N. Y.), Mary Ann (Wilson), Margaret (Anderson). 7. 



274 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Agnes, who married Benjamin Nesmitli. 8. Maiy Ann, 
who married John Bell, Esq., of Londonderry. For her 
descendants, see family of John Bell. ^, /i'^^'-fK V^ 

FAMTLY OF JAMES GREGG. 

Captain James Gregg, one of the sixteen who first, 
settled in Londonderrj, was bom in Ayrshire, Scotland, and 
emigrated with his parents to Ireland, about the year 1690. 
Previous to his leaving Scotland, he had served as an 
apprentice to the tailoring business. He married Janet 
Cargil. They had four sons and one daughter ; namely, 
William, John^ Samuel, Thomas, and Elizabeth. Soon after 
his marriage he commenced the business of linen-draper, 
and for several years pursued it with success, and accumu- 
lated considerable property. In 1718, he embarked with 
many others for America, and was among those who passed 
the following winter at Cape Elizabeth, where they endured 
many privations and much sufFering. As Mr. Gregg pos- 
sessed the means, and also the disi3osition, he was very 
efficiënt in aiding and encouraging this company of settlers 
amid their trials and wants. He subsequently received a 
captain's commission, and commanded the first company of 
soldiers raised in the town. 

William, the eldest son of Captain James Gregg, became 
the principal surveyor in the town, and laid out its lots. He 
married Janet Rankin. They had two sons and two daugh- 
ters ; James and Ilugh, Naomi and Frances. 

John married Agnes Rankin. They had ten children; 
namely, James, Hugh, John, AVilliam, George, Samuel, 
Josep h, and Benjamin ; and .twin daughters, Elizabeth and 
Janet. 

Samuel married Mary Moor, by whom he had four sons 
and thre^ï daughters ; James, John, Samuel, David, Margaret, 
Mary, and Elizabeth. 

Thomas married Ann Leslie. They had several sons and 
daughters. Some of their posterity now reside in Vermout. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 275 

Elizabeth married James Moor. Tliey had three sons 
and two daughters ; namelj, William, Robert, Hugb, Maiy, 
and Elizabeth. 

James, i\\Q eldest son of John Gregg, and grandson of 
James, married Marj McCurdy. They had five sons and 
three daughters ; John, Joseph, James, Jonathan, Benjamin, 
Elizabeth, Hannah, and Mary. 

William, the third son of John, married Barbara Aiken, 
and had two sons and three daughters ; Ebenezer, William, 
Jane, Hosanna, and Elizabeth. 

John, the fourth son of John, married his cousin Mary 
Gregg. They had three sons and three daughters ; Benja- 
min, Ebenezer, William, Agnes, Jane, and Mary. 

Samuel, the fifth son of John, married Agnes Smiley. 
They had eight children ; John, Hugh, Samuel, George, 
Sarah, Ann, Mary, and Elizabeth. 

Joseph, the seventh son of John, married Susanna Aiken ; 
had four sons and seven daughters ; namely, John, Nathaniel, 
Joseph, David A., Anne, Margaret, Barbara, Susanna, 
Elizabeth, Jane, and Sarah. 

Benjamin, the eighth son of John, married Lettice Aiken. 
They had two sons and two daughters ; John and James, 
Lettice and Jane. 

FAMILY OF DAVID GREGG. 

David Gregg was the ancestor of another family, 
entirely unconnected with the preceding. He was born in 
Londonderry in Ireland, in 1 685, and was the son of John 
Gregg, who was als o a native of the same city. He married 
Mary Evans, and with his wife and son, William, who was 
then eigjit years of age, emigrated to North America, and 
settled in the southerly part of Londonderry (now Windham), 
in November, 1722. After his«arrival in this country, he had 
other children. 

William, the eldest son, married Elizabeth Kyle, who was 



276 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

born in the county of Antrim, in Ireland, in 1719, and came 
to this country in 1727. He had six sons and three daugh- 
ters. 

1. One son died while a soldier in the French war, at 
Schenectady, N. Y., in 1755. 2. William married Isabel 
Dunlap, and had three sons and six daughters. 3. David 
married a Miss Gregg, a cousin, and had two sons and one 
daughter. 4. Thomas married a Miss MeCoy, and had one 
son, • Daniël, who lived in Boston, Mass. 5. The oldest 
daughter, married Richard Sisk, and lived in Massachusetts. 
6. Mary, the second daughter, married Hugh McKeen, of 
Acworth, N. H., had a family, and removed to Genessee 
county, N. Y. 7. Jane, the third daughter, married James 
McAlvain, and removed to Francestown, N. H., and had four 
sons and one daughter. 8. John married Lydia Meivin, and 
lived for a time in Acworth, but now resides in Claremont, 
N. H. He had four sons and four daughters. 9. Alexander 
was a soldier in the army of the Revolution, and also made 
several privateering voyages during the war. He married 
Sarah Adams, and removed to Antrim, N. H., in 1786. He 
had four sons and four daughters. James A. Gregg, M. D., 
of Manchester, N. H., is one of the sons. 

David Gregg was a younger son of David and Mary 
Gregg. He left his parents at the age of fifteen, went to 
sea, and did not return until lie was tliirty years of age. It 
is related of him, that having been promoted to the command 
of a vessel, he came into the country to pass the winter, and 
engaged his board of his father and mother. He was not 
recognized by them or any of the neighbors, until he hap- 
pened to meet Molly McCoy, a blind woman, who no sooner 
heard his voice, than she exclaimed, " David Gregg has 
come ! " Captain Gregg was an officer in the French war, 
and commanded the batteauxt)n the Nortli River. He after- 
wards settled in Windham, and married a Miss Clyde, by 
whom he had several children, who are settled in various 
parts of the country. 



GENEALOG-ICAL SKETCHES. 277 

FAMILY OP ABRAHAM HOLMES. 

Abraham Holmes and wife, with his children, came 
from Ireland, in 1719, and soon joined the settlement which 
had been commenced in Londonderry. He had married for 
his second wife, Marj Morrison. He was early elected an 
elder in the First Presbyterian church. He died in 1753, 
at the age of seventy. 

His son John^ who was ten years old when he came to this 
country, was also an elder in the same church, during the 
long ministry of the Rev. Mr. Davidson. He settled on the 
farm now owned and occupied by William M. Holmes, in 
Londonderry. He married Grizel Giv ean. They had nine 
children, three sons and six daughters ; namely. Sarah, 
Margaret, Abraham, Eleanor, Robert, Mary, Thomas, 
Mary Ann, and Martha. 1. Sarah married John Barnett. 
2. Eleanor married William Wier. 3. Mary Ann married 
Thomas Boyd. 4. Martha married Alexander Boyd. 
5. Abraham, the oldest son, married and settled in Peter- 
borough, N. H., and had eleven children, eiglit sons and 
three daughters. 6. Robert, the second son, married a Miss 
Wier, and settled in Jaffrey, N. H,, and had a large family 
of children. 7. Thomas, the third son, married Margaret 
Patterson, and lived on the farm of his father. He had 
twelve children. Sarah, who married Amos Page ; John, 
who married Sarah Anderson for his first, and Mary Adams 
for his second, wife ; Grizel, who married Thomas Savory ; 
Peter, who married Olive Graves, and now resides in Hop- 
kinton, Mass., one of whose sons, Franklin Holmes, gradu- 
ated at Yale College, in 1845, and lias entered the gospel 
ministry ; Robert, who married Jane Anderson, and died in 
1825, leaving a widow and three children; Margaret, who 
married William Boyd ; Thomas, who married Sarah 
Graves, settled in West Boylston, and there died, leaving a 
widow and four children ; Abraham, who married Esther 

24 



278 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

Smith, and is settled in Ridgefield, Ct. ; James, who mar- 
ried Martlia Barker for his first, and Susan Webster for his 
second wife, and resides in Derrj- ; Matthew, who married 
Betsey Fitts, remains in Londonderry ; William M., who 
married Judith Noyes, and lives in Londonderry, on the 
homestead ; and Jane F., who is unmarried. 

John Holmes, the eldest son of Thomas, was ordained an 
elder of the Presbyterian church in Londonderry, in 1827, 
and still officiates in that session. He has four children 
living, three sons and one daughter. James, his eldest son, 
graduated at Dartmouth College, 1838, and at Andover 
Theological Seminary 1841. He married Miss Amanda 
Burns, of Milford, in 1841. In 1842, he was ordained and 
installed pastor of the Presbyterian church in Watertown, 
Ohio. Ple resigned his charge in that place, in 1846, and 
after supplying the church and society in Auburn, N. H. 
three years, was installed pastor of that church, December 
o, 1849. 

Caroline, daughter of elder John Holmes, Avas married, 
May, 1849, to Rev. William Murdock, of Candia, N. H. 

FAMILY OF JOHN MACK. 

John Mack and Isabella Brown, his wife, came froni 
Londonderry, Ireland, in 1732, and settled near the site of 
the Rev. Dr. Morrison's meeting-house, in the West Parish, 
where he died, in 1753, at the age of fifty-five. His widow 
lived until about the year 1770. Their children were 
William, Janet, John, Robert, Martha, Elizabeth, Andrew, 
and Daniel. 

William remained in Ireland until he arrived at the age 
of twenty-one years, when, coming to America, he enlisted 
as a soldier in the " French war," and marrying Mary 
Hylands, he resided at Amherst, N. H., and subsequently 
at Londonderry, Vt. His children were Margaret, John, 
Oliver, Naomi, Ruth, Janet, Andrew, Elijah, Mary, Jane, 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 279 

and Jesse. Descendants of tliis family reside in Washing- 
ton county, N. Y. 

Janet was born upon the ocean, and became the wife of 
Henrj Campbell, long a resident of Londonderrj, but who, 
after her death, in 1778, removed to Fletcher, Vt., where he 
died, in 1813. Children : John, James, William, Nancy, 
Daniel, and Mary. Descendants of the Campbell family 
reside at Henniker, Walpole, and Keene, N. H., and in 
Northern Vermont. 

Jolin married Margaret Nichols, and lived and died at 
Newbury, Mass., leaving no children. 

Robert and Elizabeth Ewins, liis wife, settled in Leicester, 
Vt. Their children were John, Nancy, James, Susan, 
Andrew, and Elizabeth, descendants of whom now reside in 
Western New York. Robert Mack was a soldier in the 
revolutionary war. 

Martha married William Moor, of Londonderry. Her 
children were James, John, William, Hannah, Henry, Janet, 
Andrew, and Daniel. 

Elizabeth married James Smith, of Bedford, N. H. About 
the year 1790, Smith removed to Marietta, Ohio, with a 
family of eight children, as follows : Benjamin, Mary, 
Betsey, Catherine, Martha, Jane, James, and John. The 
descendants of this family are numerous in the counties of 
Washington and Meigs, Ohio, hearing the names of Smith, 
E-ussell, Cooke, Stowe, etc. 

Andrew^ who married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert 
Clark, resided in Londonderry, where he died in 1820, aged 
seventy-two years. His wife died in 1830, at the age of 
eighty-two. Their children were as follows : Jane, who died 
at Londonderry, in 1850, aged seventy-four ; Letitia, who 
died at Londonderry, in 1849, aged seventy-one ; Elizabeth, 
who married David Stiles, and resided at Lyndeborough, 
N. H. ; John, who married Phebe Goodrich, and subse- 
quently Hannah Abbott, and resided at Amherst, N. H. ; 



280 HISTORY OF LONDONDERKY. 

Isabella, wlio died in 1812, aged thirty ; Robert, wlio mar- 
ried Anne Clark, and lives at Londondeny ; Andrew, wlio 
married Maria BuVns, and resides at Gilmanton, N. H., and 
Daniel, who raarried Sophia Kendrick, and resides at Bed- 
ford, N. H. 

Daniel married Nancy Holmes, and removed to Tompkins 
county, ]Sr. Y. His clnldren were Elizabeth, Sibella, Janet, 
Nathaniel, Martha, John, Daniel, and Ann. The descend- 
ants of Daniel Mack are numerous in Central New York, 
bearing the names of Mack, Hutchinson, Spalding, etc. 

FAMILY OF JAMES MACGREGOR. 

Rev. James MacGregor, the first minister of London- 
derry, married Marion Cargil, in Londonderry, Ireland, in 
October, 1706. His children were Robert, Daniel, David, 
Jane, Alexander, Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret, John, and 
James, of wliom seven survived him. We have no par- 
ticulars of the history of these children, with the exception 
of David, who was the first minister in the West Parish 
of Londonderry. 

Rev. David MacGregor married Mary Boyd, a lady, 
who, having been left an orphan when in early life, was 
brought up by his mother. She was possessed of consider- 
able property, and was distinguished for her personal appear- 
ance and accomplishments. Mr. MacGregor died May 30, 
1777, aged sixty-eight. His wife survived him, and died 
September 28, 1793, aged seventy. They had nine chil- 
dren, as follows : — 

David, who died in infancy. 

Robert, who married Elizabeth, daughter of General 
George Reid, and settled at first in Goffstown, N. H. He 
was a man of fine natural endowments, and of great excel- 
lence of character. He was quite a young man at the com- 
mencement of the revolutionary struggle, but he volunteered 
his services, and, in 1777, joined the troops mustercd in New 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 281 

Hampshire, imder the command of General Stark ; and was 
appointed by that officer to act as his aid-de-camp, which 
office he fiUed at the surrender of Burgoyne. He was 
very energetic as a merchant and man of business. As an 
instance of the latter trait of character, it may be mentioned, 
that he was the projector and the principal proprietor of the 
first bridge which crossed the Merrimack river, on the site 
now occupied by the old central bridge of the Amoskeag 
Company, the abutments and some of the piers of which 
were used in the erection of the present bridge. Many, in 
those days, were entirely incredulous as to the practicabilify 
of the enterprise. Among these was Mr. MacGregor's neigh- 
bor, General Stark, who lived on the opposite bank of the 
river, and who remarked to him, " Well, Robert, you may 
succeed ; but when the first passenger crosses over, I shall 
be ready to die." In sixty-five days, however, from the 
time when the first stick of timber used in its construction 
was felled in the forest, the bridge was open for passengers, 
and General Stark lived many years to cross and recross it. 
It was called MacGregor's bridge, from its projector and 
builder. Mr. MacGregor was also one of the original pro- 
prietors and directors of the Amoskeag canal, one of the 
earliest works of that nature in this country. He resided 
in Goffstown many /ears, and his farm, on the Merrimack, 
embraced a large portion of the lands and water-power 
now owned by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. 
He subsequently removed to Newburyport, where he en- 
gaged in commerce, but finally returned to reside in Lon- 
donderry, his native town, where he died, September 16, 
1816, aged sixty-seven. He had nine children ; namely, 
David, George, Maria, Elim, Robert, James, Mary Anne, 
John, and Daniel. 

David pursued a coUegiate course, and graduated at 
Dartmouth College, 1774. He entered the army of the 

24* 



282 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

Revolution, and held tlie office of captain. He afterwards 
engaged in the business of teaching. 

James settled in Londondeny, and married Margaret 
Holland, a daughter of Colonel Stephen Holland. He 
opened a store, which he continued for many years, at the 
same time improving a valuable farm, which he received 
from his father. He was, in the earlier part of his life, much 
engaged in public business, sustaining not only the office of a 
magistrate, but various offices of the town ; and was for some 
years a representative in the General Court. He possessed 
superior abilities, and a well-cultivated mind ; he died, 
lamented by a large circle of connections and acquaintances, 
June 23, 1818, aged seventy. His wife died in December, 
1746, aged eighty-eight. He had six children ; namely, 
Dan iel, James, Stephen, Jane, Mary, and Nancy. 

Elizaheth. 

Marga7'et, who married James R-ogers. 

Mary Anne, who married James Hopkins. 

Jane, who married Robert Hunter. 

Mary, who married Robert Means, of Amherst, N. H. 
She possessed, with many excellent qualities, traits of char- 
acter similar to those of her father ; and through a long life 
of active usefulness, was particularly distinguished for her 
generous benevolence and hospitality. ♦She united to gentle- 
ness, refinement and kindness of manners, great energy and 
decision of character. It is related of her, that when a girl 
of fifteen, and while visiting her brother Robert, who then 
resided at Goffstown, she and her brother were walking one 
day, on the banks of the Merrimack, looking at the falls. 
Robert, by way of hravado, and to startle and astonish her, 
stepped upon a stick of tinifi|r, polishcd by the dashing 
waters, which lay across the rails in such a manner as to 
allow those who had strong heads and steady nerves to pass 
over. When he was nearly across, he glanced around, and, 
to his utter astonishment, beheld her also in the act of cross- 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 283 

ing, witli her high-heeled skoes.* He dared not speak to lier, 
bilt once safelj across, he would not permit her to return hi 
that manner, but procured a boat, in which they recrossed 
the river. She died in Boston, January 14, 1838, at the 
advanced age of eightj-five. Her husband, Robert Means, 
was of Scotch descent, and canie from the north of Ireland 
when a youth, in company with his friend and cousin, 
Jacob McGaw. They at first settled in Merrimack, N. H., 
and were for a time connected in business. On a separa- 
tion, Mr. Means removed to Amherst. " They both became 
wealthy merchants, ranked among the most influential citi- 
zens in the county, and were the fathers of highly intelli- 
gent and respectable families." 

FAMILY OF ALEXANDER m'COLLOM. 

Alex ANDER Mc Collom, with his wife, Janet, came 
from Londonderry in Ireland, and settled in this town, about 
1730. His children were Alexander, Thomas, Jean (after- 
wards Brewster), Robert, Archibald, John, and Janet (after- 
wards Gordan). 

Of these, Rohert retained the homestead, and in 1767, 
married Martha Beattie. By her he had twelve children : 
Archibald, Alexander (who died at two years of age), 
William, Jenny, Alexander, Fanny, Robert, John, Lydia, 
Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Martha. Of these, John, with 
certain abatements, retained the homestead. After a few 
years, his right was transferred to Messrs. Robert and Jon- 
athan McCollom ; the latter of whom survives, and with his 
three sisters, Lydia, Elizabeth B., and Martha, still retain pos- 
session. Of the family of Robert the elder, four — Archibald, 
Alexander, Jenny, and John — removed early from this 
town. They were all married, and with a single exception, 
have families, scattered through the New England, Middle, 

* It was fashionable, in thosc days, for ladics to wcar shocs with 
heels from three to four inches in heiffht. 



284 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

and Western States. The rest of the family remain on the 
homestead, except Robert, who lately deceased. 

Of the descendants of the first family who left tlieir native 
place, little is known ; and so of the family of Robert 
McCollom, beyond those still residing in town. Their 
ïiames, or even their number, is not accurately ascertained. 
They are or have been engaged in various kinds of business ; 
some are merchants, some mechanics, and others farmers. 
Two are clergymen ; of whom one is the Rev. James T. 
McCollom, of Great Falls, N. H. 

Of the founder of the family in this country little is 
remembered. An interesting document is inserted in the 
Appendix, being his warrant as collector of parisli taxes. 
Of his father nothing is known, except a tradition that he, 
among others, was sorely pressed with famine in the well- 
known siege of Londonderry in Ireland, and that, in the 
extremity of his hunger, he gave the sum of twenty-five 
cents for the head of a cat. This was on the day the Mount- 
joy reached the city with provisions for their relief. Of the 
family living in town, it is worthy of notice, that it is one of 
the few that retain the farm first cleared up from the orig- 
inal forest by their progenitor of the same name. 

FAMILY OF JAMES m'kEEN. 

The ancestor of the McKeens, was James McKeen, who 
lived in the north of Ireland. He was a staunch Protestant, 
and took an active part in the defence of the city of London- 
derry. He had three sons ; James, John, and William. 
James, the son, was twice married, and had in all twenty-one 
children, not one half of whom are known to have arrived at 
the age of maturity. By his first wife, Janet Cochran, he 
had two daughtcrs ; Elizabeth, who married in Ireland James 
Nesmith, whose descendants are mentioned in the notice of 
the family of James Nesmith, and Janet, who married John 
Cochran, of Windham, N. H., and had a daughter Elizabeth, 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 285 

wlio became the wife of William Dinsmoor, and the mother of 
Robert Dinsmoor, the " Rustic Bard," and of the late Gover- 
nor Samuel Dinsmoor, of Keene, N. H. John, the son of 

James McKeen the elder, married Janet , and had four 

children ; James, Robert, Samuel, and Mary. William, the 
son of James McKeen, the elder, was a respectable farmer. 
James and John were partners, resided at Ballymony, and 
being successful in business, were, for those times, compara- 
tively wealthy. James McKeen the younger, with his second 
wife, Annis Cargil, and his children, came to this country in 
the emigration of 1718, of which enterprise he was one of the 
principal originators. He was accompanied by his son-in- 
law, James Nesmith, and by Rev. James MacGregor, who 
had married Marion Cargil, a sister of his wife, Annis Car- 
gil. His brother John intended to emigrate with him, 
but died a short time previous to the embarkation. John's 
widow, Janet, and her four children, however, came with 
the other emigrants. 

James M'Keen, or Justice McKeen, as he was usually 
called, he being the first magistrate commissioned in the town 
after his settlement,* was a man of probity, ability, and intel- 
ligence, and was active and influential in the settlement of 
Londonderry. He was born in the year 1665, and was of 
couri^e fifty-three years of age at the time of the emigration. 
He died at Londonderry, November 9, 1756, in the ninetieth 
year of his age ; and being more than any other man the 
patriarch of the colony, he was as such universally honored 
and lamented. His widow, Annis Cargil, a lady of excellent 
character, survived him many years, and died Aug. 8, 1782, 
in the ninety-fourth year of her age. He had by his second 
wife nine children ; namely, John, Mary, David, James, 
Janet, Martha, Margar^t, Annis, and Samuel. 

John was born at Ballymony in the county of Antrim, in 
Ireland, April 13, 1714. He was an elder of the Presby- 

* A copy of Justice McKccn's commission is insertcd in the Ap- 
pendix. 



286 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 

terian church in Londonderry, was a representative in the 
legislature, and held various other civil offices in the town. 
He married Mary McKeen, daughter of his uncle John, and 
had a large family of children as ibllows : 1 . James, who 
married a Miss Cunningham, soon after removed to Peter- 
borough, and died in 1789. He was the father of Judge 
Levi McKeen, who now lives at Fishkill Landing, Dutchess 
Co. N. Y., at the age of eighty-three years. Judge McKeen 
removed from New Hampshire to the State of New York, 
about the year 1790, and for twenty-five years, pursued a 
mercantile business in Poughkeepsie. He was for many 
years Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and has held 
various other offices of trust. 2. John, who married Janet 
Taylor, daughter of John Taylor of Londonderry. He was 
sergeant in Captain Daniel Reynolds's company, at the battle 
of Bennington, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of 
captain. He died in 1807. He had four sons and three 
daughters, none of whom survive except James McKeen, 
Esq., counsellor at law in the city of New York. 3. Robert, 
who married Mary McPherson,and settled in Antrim, N. H. 
He subsequently removed to Corinth, Vt., and died in 1809, 
leaving one son, Joseph McKeen, who is superintendent of 
the public schools in the city of New York. 4. William, who 
married Nancy Taylor, another daughter of John Taylor, 
and settled in Windham, N. H. He was a volunteer in the 
army of the Revolution. He had six children, and died 
in 1824. 5. Annis, who was unmarried. 6. Joseph, some- 
time pastor of a church in Beverly, Mass., and afterwards 
the first president of Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Me., 
and of whom an extended notice has been given. He had 
three sons ; Joseph, long treasurer of Bowdoin College ; 
James, a medical professor in that institution, and John, who 
is a graduate of that college, and resides in Brunswick. 7. 
8. Janet and Daniel, who were twins. Janet raarried John 
Taylor, Jr., and had five children. Daniel married Janet 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 287 

Wilson, and afterwards Lucy Martin, widow of John Nes- 
mitb of Windham, and had four or five children, and lived 
in Londonderrj, upon the homestead. 9. Samuel, who mar- 
ried Betsey Taylor, and afterwards Mary Clark, and had 
several children. 

Mary married Robert Bojd. They lived in Londonderry, 
but had no children. 

James, born April, 1719, married Elizabeth Dinsmoor, 
settled in Londonderrj, and had two children ; a son David, 
and a daughter, who died in childhood. His wife died at 
the age of twenty-seven, and he did not marry again. 
About the close of the revolutionary war, he removed to 
Corinth, Vt., where he died in 1794, aged seventy-five. His 
son David married Margaret McPherson for his first wife, 
and settled in Corinth, Vt. By her he had twelve children, 
namely ; James, Elizabeth, Daniël, Polly, David, John, An- 
nis, Jenny, Margaret, Silas, Robert, and another daughter. 
These children, or their descendants of the next gene- 
ration, have settled in Yermont, New Hampshire, Maine, 
New York, Canada West, Michigan, and Ohio. One 
of the sons, Rev. Silas McKeen, has been for many years 
pastor of a church in Bradford, Vt. After the death of his 
wife, Margaret, David McKeen married Lydia Ingalls, of 
Methuen, Mass., by whom he had two children, Lydia and 
David, making fourteen in all. 

Janet, born December 28, 1721, married William Orr, 
and had three children, James, Anna, and a daughter who 
married Timothy Carr, one of the first settlers of the town of 
Danville, Vt. 

Marilia married John Dinsmoor, and had several children, 
among whom was Silas, who was for a long time employed 
by the United States Government, as Indian agent. 

But little is known respecting David, Margaret, Annis^ 
and Samuel, children of Justicc McKeen, and they probably 
died in early life. 



288 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

Another principal branch of the McKeens, were the family 
and posterity of' John McKeen, a brother of James McKeen, 
who was intending to emigrate with him, but died before the 
embarkation. His widow came, as has ah'cady been stated, 
bringing with her three ifons, James, Robert, and Samnel, 
and her infant daughter Marj, and had a lot of land assigned 
her. She subsequently married Captain John Barnett, who 
was among the early settlers of the town. 

James settled in Hillsborough, N. H. He had children, 
and among them a daughter Isabel. Some of his posterity 
were residing in Deering, N. II., not many years ago. 

Rohert is said to have settled in Pennsylvania. He was 
engaged in the French and Indian wars, and was promoted 
to the rank of major, but having been taken prisoner, he was 
put to death in a most cruel manner. 

Samuel settled in Amherst, N. H. He had by his wife 
Agnes, a numerous family, as follows : 1. Hugh, who was 
killed by the Indians in the old French war. 2. John, who 
was massacred by the Indians, at the taking of Fort William 
Henry, in the same war. They stuck his flesh full of pitch- 
pine skewers, and burned him to death. 3. Robert, who 
settled at Cherry Yalley, N. Y., and became a " captain of 
renown." He was killed by the Indians in the batllc of 
Wyoming, Penn. He had a son Robert, the father of Sam- 
uel McKeen, United States senator from Pennsylvania. 4. 
James, who married and settled in Amherst, N. II. 5. 
Samuel, who married a daughter of Hugh Graham, of 
Windham, N. H. He lived for a time at Amherst, after- 
wards at Windham, and subsequently removed to Belfast, 
Me., and was a deacon of the cluirch there. He had several 
children. G. William married Ann Graham, settled in 
Deering, N. H., and had elevcn children, among whom was 
William McKeen, Jr., a member of the New Ilampshire 
senate in the years 1844 and 1845. Some of his sons set- 
tled in Nashua,* N. II. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 289 

Samuel McKeen had also four danghters, Marj, Martha, 
Agnes, and Jane ; making in all a family of ten children. 

WiLLiAM McKeen, brother of Justice McKeen, born in 
Ireland in 1704, came to America eight or ten years aftér 
the emigration of 1718, and settled in Pennsylvania. Among 
his grandsons was Thomas McKean, signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and for nine years governor of Penn- 
sylvania. 

FAMILY OF JOHN MORRISON. 

There were two individuals of the name of John Morri- 
SON among the early settlers of Londonderry. The first 
was one of the original sixteen settlers, and was father of 
Jonathan Morrison, the first male child born in the town. 
He emigrated from the north of Ireland, and was nine years 
of age at the time of the siege of the city of Londonderry. 
His father's family, including himself, were of the nmnber 
who were driven, in pursuance of the barbarous order of 
Rosen, under the walls of the city. He was admitted«within 
the walls, where he remained until the city was relieved. 
About the year 1759, he removed to Peterboroiigh, N. H., 
and was one of the early settlers of that town. He died in 
1776, at the age of ninety-seven. No Information respecting 
his descendants, sufficiënt for a connected sketch, has been 
received. Among them, however, are the names of Hon. 
Jeremiah Smit]i, of Exeter, N. H., Rev. John H. Morrison, 
of Milton, Mass., and Hon. George W. Morrison, of Man- 
chester, N. H. 

The other John Morrison emigrated from the north of 
Ireland to Londonderry, seven or eight years after the first 
settlement. He had two sons and one daughter, as follows : 

Samuel, whose children were William, Samuel, Joseph, 
John, Thomas, Katherine, Jane, and Mary. 

Joseph, whose children were Abraham, 'John, Joseph, Sam- 
uel, Jonathan, Jane, Hannah, Mary, and Ann. 

25 



290 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

Hannah, who married Robert Clendcnin, and liad seven 
children ; namely, John, William, Robert, Andrew, Betsey, 
Mary, and Nancy. 

FAMILY OF JAMES NESMITH. 

James Nesmith emigrated from the V-alley of the river 
Bann, in the north of Ireland, to America, in 1718, and was 
one of the first sixteen settlers of the town of Londonderry. 
He was one of the original proprietors of the township, and 
was a very respectable member of the little colony there 
planted. At the organization of the church in the West 
Parish, he was chosen one of its elders. He married in Ire- 
land, about the year 1714, Elizabeth, daughter of James 
McKeen, and had four sons and one daughter ; namely, Ar- 
thur, James, John, Thomas, and Elizabeth. 

Arthur, who was born in Ireland, married, and settled in 
the southerly part of the town, and afterwards removed to 
the State of Maine. He had four children ; James, John, 
Benjamin, and Mary. James served in the army of the 
Revolution, and afterwards settled in the State of Maine. 
John married Jane Reid. Early in the revolutionary strug- 
gle he enlisted as a volunteer in the company coramanded 
by George Reid, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill. He 
afterwards commanded a company in the Canada service, 
and was subsequently at Rhode Island, under the command 
of General SuUivan. At the close of this campaign, he was 
compelled by ill health to retire from the service. He grad- 
ually sunk under a lingering sickness until after the close of 
the war, when he died. Captain Nesmith was frank and 
generous in his disposition, dignified in his manners, and was 
distinguished for intrepidity, activity, and muscular strength. 
He left but one child, who did not long survive him. 

James, the second son, was born in Ireland in 1718, just 
before the embarkation, or, as some have said, during the 
voyage. He served in the revolutionary war, and was in 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 291 

Reid's company at Bunker Hill. He settled in the nortliern 
part of Londonderry, and had six children, as folio vvs ; 1. 
James, who married Martha McCluer, and was an elder in 
the church in the West Parish. 2. Jonathan, who married 
Eleanor Dickey, and removed in 1778 to Antrim. He was 
one of the first elders in the church in that town, and was 
the father of George W. Nesmith, Esq., of Franklin, N. H. 
3. Robert, who married Jane Anderson. 4. Elizabeth, who 
married James Cochran, of Windham. 5. Mary, who mar- 
ried James McCluer, of Acworth. G. Sarah, who married 
Daniel Anderson, of Londonderry. 

John, the third son, married Elizabeth Reid, sister of Gen. 
George Reid. He settled on the homestead, in the southerly 
part of the town, and died in 1815, aged eighty-seven. He 
had eight children, as folio ws : 1. James, who married Eliz- 
abeth Brewster, and settled in Antrim, where he died about 
1840, at an advanced age. 2. Arthur, who married Mary 
Duncan, and settled in Antrim, but afterwards removed to 
the State of Ohio, where he died. 3. John, who was born 
in 1766, on the homestead, where he resided until his death, 
whicli occurred in 1844. He married for his first wife, 
Susan Hildreth, by whom he had eight children ; namely, 
John P., Isabella A., Susan H., Samuel H., James P., Mary, 
Thomas, and Elizabeth. For his second wife, he married 
Lydia Sargeant, by whom he had two sons, Albert S., and 
Charles E. 4. Ebenezer, who married Jane Trotter. 5. 
Thomas. 6. Elizabeth, who married Dea. James Pinkerton. 
7. Mary, who married John Miltimore, and now resides at 
Reading, Pa. 8. Jane, who married Hugh Anderson. 

Thomas, the fourth son, was born in 1731- He married 
Annis Wilson, and settled in Windham, near the south line 
of Londonderry. He had three children, as foUows : 1. 
John, who raarried Lucy Martin, and had nine children ; 
namely, Jacob M., Tht)mas, Elizabeth, John, James W., 
Lucy, Annis, George R., and Jonathan W. 2, Elizabeth, 



292 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

who married Jonathan Wallace, and removed to the State of 
New York, where she died. 3. Thomas, who died in infancy. 
The descendants of Elder James Nesmith are very nu- 
merous, and are, with few exceptions, valuable members of 
society. 

THE PATTERSON FAMILIES. 

Peter Patterson came from the parish of Priestland, 
town of Glenlace, county of Antrim, Ireland, about the year 
1730, and purchased the farm now owned and occupied by 
Captain Thomas Patterson, of Londonderry. He married in 
1742, Grisey Wilson, danghter of Thomas Wilson, of the 
Doublé Range. They had three sons ; Robert, Thomas, and 
John ; and five daughters ; Rachel, Margaret, Sarah, Grisey, 
and Elizabeth, who are all dead. 

JRobert married Susan Miller, and settled in New Boston. 
They had two sons, John and Samiiel. The former lives on 
the homestead, and the latter i'esides in Erie county, Penn. 
They had five daughters, all of whom were married. 

Thomas married Elizabeth Wallace, daughter of James 
and Mary Wallace, in 1775. They had twelve children, 
all of whom except one son, who died in infancy, lived to adult 
age and were settled in life. Nine still survive. 1. Grisey, 
the eldest, married David Barnet. 2. James married Hannah 
Hughes, of Windham. 3. Peter married Mary Wallace, 
daughter of Judge Wallace, of Henniker. 4, Robert mar- 
ried Esther Spaulding, of Hudson. 5. Mary man-ied Abra- 
ham McNeil, and removed to Antrim, where she died of the 
spotted fever, in 1812. 6. Margaret married Samuel F. 
Taylor. 7. Thomas married Hannah, a daughter of John 
Duncan, and lives on the original homestead. 8. Williara 
married Lucinda Gregg, of Derry. 9. Elizabeth married 
William Duncan, Esq., of Candia. 10. Jenny married Dr, 
Augustus Frank, of Warsaw, N. Y. 11. George W. mar- 
-ried Hannah, a daughter of John Dickey, Esq. In 1815, 
William, being then a young man, went into the State of 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 293 

New York, and commenced the business of making and 
vending fanning-mills, whicli had been recently patented. 
He was quite successful, and,/ in 1818, was joined by his 
brother George W., who was some years younger than him- 
self. Though they were favored with a common school 
education only, and engaged in mechanical business, yet such 
was their force of character, such their correctness of prin- 
ciple and of conduct, and such their enterprise, that they not 
only succeeded in accumulating a large property, but secured 
the confidence of the communities in which they resided. 
They were elected to offices of trust and responsibility, and 
became members of the-legislature of the State for successive 
years. In 1836, William was chosen member. of Congress, 
from the district composed of the county of Genesee, but 
while at Washington, in 1 838, he was seized with illness, 
from which he never recovered. Although able to reach home, 
he died August 14, 1838, aged forty-nine. George W., after 
having been a member of the assembly six years, was chosen 
speaker, which office he held two years. In 1846, he was 
elected a member of the convention to revise the constitu- 
tion. In 1848, he was chosen lieutenant-governor, which 
office he still holds. About 1829, Robert and Peter also 
removed to the State of New York, and settled in the 
vicinity of their brothers, who had preceded them. Peter 
Patterson, Esq., who had represented his native/town in 
General Court, and sustained various public offices, was, 
soon after his settlement in New York, elected a representa- 
tive to the State Assembly for the years 1833 and 1834. In 
1842, he was appointed one of the judges of the county court, 
for the term of five years. 

Johi married Jane Wilson, of Windham, and had one son, 
Peter, who removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, about 1810, was 
for many years clerk of Ross county, and, up to the time of 
his death, 1845, was one of the magistrates of the city. 
He left several sons, one of whom is a clergyman of the 

25* 



294 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

Methodist denomination. The widow of John Patterson 
married Deacon James Aiken, of Londonderry, and was the 
mother of Captain Nathaniel Aiken. 

Rachel married William McNeil, and settled in New Bos- 
ton. They had three sons and three daughters. 

Margaret married Thomas Hohnes, of Londonderry. 
They had thirteen children, several of whom still reside in 
Derry and Londonderry. 

Sarah married Thomas Melendy, and settled in Amherst, 
N. H. They had five sons and one daughter ; two of the 
sons are dead ; one lives in Springfield, Illinois, one at Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, and one son and the daughter are on the liome- 
stead at Amherst. 

Grisey married John Burns, and settled in Milford, N. H. 
They had two sons and one daughter. 

Elizaheth married Daniel Burns, and also settled in Mil- 
ford. They had five sons and one daughter. 

William Patterson, the brother of Peter, came from 
Ireland to 'Londonderry about the year 1724, and settled on 
Patterson's Hill, afterwards Smith's Hill. He had five sons 
and several daughters. 

John settled on the Chestnut Hills, Amherst. His 
daughter Elizabeth married Phineas Aiken, of Bedford. 

Rohert settled in New Boston. 

Peter married a daughter of John Bell, Esq-, and settled in 
Goffstown. 

Adam married and settled in the State of Maine. 

David married a daughter of Silas Betton, Esq., of Wind- 
ham, and settled in Temj^le, but afterwards removed to 
Francestown. The Information which lias been obtained of 
this branch of the Patterson family is very limited. 

John Patterson, the great-grandfather of Peter and Wil- 
liam, who came to this country, removed from Argyleshire in 
Scotland to Ireland about one hundred years before the emi- 
gration of his descendants to America. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 295 



FAMILY OF JOHN PINKERTON. 

The ancestor of tliis family, John Pinkerton, came from 
the county of Antrim, in the north of ïreland, to this town, 
in 1724. He settled upon a farm in the West Parish of 
Londondeny, and died in 1780, at the age of eighty. He left 
five sons ; David and John, who were born in Ireland, 
Matthew, Samuel, and James ; and four daughters ; Mary, 
Elizabeth, who married IJeacon James Aiken, Rachel, and 
Jane, who married Deacon David Brewster. 

Of David and Samuel we have no particular information. 

3ïatthew lived and died in Londonderry. He had three 
sons ; the late Lieutenant John Pinkerton, who held for some 
years offices of trust in the town, and was the father of 
George W. Pinkerton, Esq., of Manchester, N. H., James, 
who resides in Derry, and David, who settled in Boscawen. 

A brief sketch of John, the second son, and of James, the 
yonngest, has been already given. They were benefactors 
to the town, and deserve to be had in remembrance. The 
folio wing is a brief genealogical statement of their fam- 
ilies : — 

Major John Pinkerton married, for his first wife. Rachel 
Dimcan, by whom he had five children; namely, Polly, 
Naomi, Betsey, John, and Esther. Polly married Alex- 
ander MacGregor, and had one child, John P., who was 
adopted by Major Pinkerton. 

For his second wife, he married Polly Tufts, but had no 
children by her. 

Deacon James Pinkerton married, for his first wife, 
Elizabeth Nesmith, daughter of John Nesmith, by whom he 
had six children, as follows : Isabella and James, both of 
whom died in infancy ; Betsey, who married John Aiken, 
son of Deacon Nathaniel Aiken, and died in 1837 ; Jane, 
who married Joshua Aiken, brother of John Aiken ; Mary 
B., who married Captain William Choate, and Clarissa, who 
married Robert E. Little. 



296 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. • ■ 

Deacon Pinkerton married, for his second wife, Sarah 
Wallace, daughter of Samuel Wallace, and by her had four 
children, as follows : Rebecca W., who married Perkins A. 
Hodge ; Francis C, who married Hon. Luther V. Bell ; 
David H., who married Elizabeth Aiken, and John M., who 
is a counsellor at law, and resides in Boston, Mass. 

FAMILY OF HUGH RANKIN. 

In the year 1722, three years after the settlement in Lon- 
donderry was commenced, Hugh Rankiïs^ arrived with his 
family from the county of Antrim, in Ireland. He had 
nine daughters and no son; consequently those who have 
borne that name in the town during some past genera- 
tions, were not descended from him ; nor did they sustain 
any relation whatever to his family. He was a man of fair 
Christian character, was influential in promoting the pros- 
perity of the settlement, and sustained for some years the 
office of ruling elder in the First Presbyterian church. His 
numerous family of daughters were distinguished for their 
personal appearance, and for their accomplishments. They 
all became members of the church, and examples of Chris- 
tian piety and virtue. They were all respectably married, 
excepting the youngest, who died in early life. 

The eldest married Hugh Stirling, whose descendants are 
in the State of Maine. The second married William Gregg. 
The third married John Gregg. The fourth married Allen 
Anderson, and had no ofifspring. The ffth married James 
Cochran, whose descendants now live in many parts of the 
country. The sixth married Mr. Clyde, of Windham, and 
had a numerous family. The seventh married John Crombie, 
from whom descended all of that name in this part of the 
country. The eighth married a Mr. Rogers, who removed 
into the State of Maine, where their descendants still live. 

The posterity of this family of the early settlers became 
very numerous, and are extensively dispersed throughout 



GENEALO<ÏICAL SKETCHES. 297 

the land ; and in most instances are known to have proved 
valuable members of the community. 

FAMILY OF JAMES REID. 

Among the first settlers of Londonderry, was James 
Reid, a native of Scotland, and a graduate of the University 
of Edinburgh. He took an active and conspicuous part in 
the early organization of the town, and in the direction of its 
counciis. He was a man who added to an accomplished 
mind, all those traits of character which go to constitute an 
influential and useful member of society. He was a member 
of the session of the church in the West Parish, durin* the 
ministry of Rev. David MacGregor, and died in November, 
1755, aged sixty. His widow, Mary, died February, 1775, 
aged seventy-six. His children were 

JElizaheth, who married John Nesmith, and whose children 
are mentioned in the notice of the family of James Nesmith. 

John, who died February, 1803, aged fifty-eight. 

George, who married Mary Woodburn, and of whom a 
notice lias already been given. He had five children, as 
follows : 1. Elizabeth, his eldest child, married Robert Mac- 
Gregor, son of Rev. David MacGregor. She died in March, 
1847, at the advanced age of eighty-one, highly respected 
and esteemed in the wide circle of her acquaintance. 
2. James, for many years of the eminent banking-house of 
Brown, Reid, and Co., of Lisbon, Portugal, died in London, 
May, 1827, aged sixty. 3. INIary, who married the late 
Hon. Samuel Dinsmoor, formerly governor of New Hamp- 
shire, and father of the present governor. She died at 
Keene, June, 1834, at the age oi sixty-four. 4. John, who 
was for many years a respectable and successful merchant 
in Philadelphia, where he died in December, 1834, aged 
sixty-three. 5. George, their youngest child, was born Jan, 
29, 1774, and graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1797, 
married Mary Borland, in 1809 ; for his second wife, he mar- 



298 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

ried Harriet Davidson, in 1835. He entered the profession 
of law, which he practised with much success, in the State 
of Maine. He died in Boston, January 30, 1848, aged 
seventy-four. 

FAMILY OF MATTHEW TAYLOR. 

Matthew Taylor and his wife, Janet, came from the 
vicinity of Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in London- 
derry (now Derry), in 1722. He lived on the farm now 
occupied by his grandsón, Henry Taylor. 

John, thfiif first child, was born September 22, 1721, on 
their*passage to America. He married Margaret Dickey, 
and had five children; Matthew, James, John, Janet, and 
Nancy. 1. Matthew married a Miss Little, and had five 
children ; Sarah, Joseph, John, James, and Oliver. 2. James 
married a Miss Dickey, and had three children ; Margaret, 
Rachel, and William. 3. John married Janet McKeen, 
and had five children ; Anna, Margaret, John, Daniel, and 
Samuel. 4. Janet raarried Captain John McKeen, and 
had seven children ; James, John, Joseph, Robert, Samuel 
Sarah, and Janet. 5. Nancy married William McKeen, 
and had six children ; Mary, Nancy, Margaret, Johnj Janet, 
and Alice. 

Matthew, the second son, was born October 30, 1727, mar- 
ried, and went to St. John's, Nova Scotia. He had four 
sons ; one of them became a ship-builder, and three went to 
Ohio and settled on the Sciota river. 

William was born March 23, 1733, and married Betsey 
Grimes. Their children were Mary, John, Janet, Nancy, 
Adam, Samuel, Sarah, andT3etsey. 1. Mary married John 
Gregg, and went to New York. 2. John married Nancy 
Cunningham. Their children were Aiken, William, Samuel 
Fisher, Ephraim, Nancy, Mary, Sarah, Eliza, and Fanny. 
3. Adam married Martha Paul. Their children were Jane, 
Betsey, Adam, Matthew, Clarissa, Mary Ann, Margaret, and 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 299 

Paul. 4. Sarah married John McGrath, of Dorchester, and 
had three sons and two daughters. o. Betsey married 
Captain James Paul. Their children were Betsey, John, and 
David. Janet, Nancy, and Samuel, the remaining children 
of William, were unmarried, and lived to be. quite aged. 

David^ the fourth son, was born August 10, 1735, married 
Margaret Kelsey, and had seven children ^ 1 . David mar- 
ried, and had two sons. 2. Robert married Dolly Colby, 
and had ten children ; Anna, Lucinda, Rebecca, Robert, 
Stephen, Henry, and four who died under fifteen, and in one 
week, of spotted fever. 5. Rosa married James McNeil, 
and removed to the western part of the State. William, 
Betsey, Jonathan, and John, were unmarried, and died in 
the prime of life. 

Adam was bom August 15, 1737, married Mary Cunning- 
ham, and had three children: 1. Nancy married Matthew 
Anderson. Their children were Adam, John, Jane, Mary, 
Samuel, Matthew, Betsey, James, and Nancy. 2. Janet 
married Colonel William Adams, and had two children, 
Mary, who married Captain John Holmes, and James, who 
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1813, and died in 1817. 
3. Betsey married Samuel McKeen, brother of Joseph 
McKeen, president of Bowdoin College, and had three chil- 
dren, John, Adam, and James Orr. 

Samuel, the sixth son, remained on a part of the home- 
stead, having erected a house and married Sarah Fisher. 
She had one son and then died. Her son, Matthew, grad- 
uated at Dartmouth College in 1801, entered the ministry, 
raarried a Miss Fisher, and went as a missionary to Ohio, 
where he died. Samuel married Eunice Lancaster for his 
second wife. They had nine children ; Sarah, Janet, Sam- 
uel Fisher,*Henry, James, Mary, and three at a birth, who 
died young. 1. Sarah married Captain John Clark, and 
had seven children ; Eliza, Mary Jane, Sarah, Nancy, ISfel- 
vina, Sophia, John Newton, and Harvey. The sons died 



300 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

in infancy. 2. Janet died unmarried. 3. Samuel F. mar- 
ried Margaret Patterson. Their children were Mary Jane, 
Henry Gilman, Elizabeth, James, Lucinda, and three sons 
who died young. 4. Henry resides upon the homestead 
of his grandfather, Mattliew Taylor, and is unmarried. 
5. James resides on a part of the homestead, being one of 
the farms origin^lly belonging to Governor Wentworth, and 
married Persis Hemphill ; they have nine children ; Samuel 
H., Nathaniel M., Almira, Caroline P., Harriette, James C, 
Sarah J., Mary E., and Emma. 6. Mary married Captain 
John Clark, as his second wife, and Had two children, 
Elvira M., and Clara A. 

Sarah, the first daughter, married Deacon Samuel Fisher, 
and had one child. Sarah,- who married Samuel, the sixth son 
of Matthew Taylor. 

Janet, the second daughter, was born June 10, 1731, and 
married John Anderson. Their children were: 1. John, 
who married a Miss Archibald, and had thirteen children ; 
Ann, John, Jane, Robert, Martha, Betsey, Thomas, Marga- 
ret, Nancy, Eli, Samuel, and two who died young. 2. Mat- 
thew, married his cousin, Nancy Taylor, wliose children are 
referred to in Adam Taylor's family. 3. Jane married 
David Paul, whose children were Mai'tha, James, Janet, 
John, Mary, Matthew, David, Jane, Thomas, Margaret, 
Nancy, and two who died young. After Mr. Anderson's 
death, his widow married Mr. Finlay, and had two children : 
1. Samuel, who married a Miss Witherspoon; and their 
children were Jane, Robert, Joseph, John, Nancy, Fanny, 
Hugh, Jesse, and Martha. 2. Ilugh married Janet Cochran, 
and had six children ; Mary, Joseph, Betsey, Samuel, 
Sophia, and Barnett. 

John and Matthew Anderson lived ^in Ira,* Vt. ; and 
Samuel and Hugh Finlay, in Acworth, N. H. Nearly all 
the other families lived in Derry, or the vicinity. 

The great-grandchildren of Matthew Taylor, as far as 
known, number one hundred and thirty. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 301 

Ï'AMILY OF ANDREW TODD. 

Andretv Todd arrived at Londonderrj in 1720. He 
was the third son of James Todd and Rachel Nelson, both of 
whom were natives of Scotland, but emigrated to the north 
of Irelajid, where all their children were born, and had 
arrived at middle age, before the emigration to Londonderry, 
IST. H. James Todd died in Ireland, but his widow removed 
with her children to New England, and died at London- 
derry. 

Alexander, the eldest brother, removed to Boston from 
Londonderry ; was married, and had three daughters, one 
of whom married a Mr. Houghton, and among her descend- 
ants are many persons of the name of Warren, Willis, 
Newcomb, etc. He was a graduate of the University of 
Edinburgh. Samuel, his brother, was also a graduate at 
Edinburgh, and resided at Boston, where he died unmarried. 
Their sister, Elizabeth, married John Bell, who emigrated 
to Londonderry, in 1720, where she died in August, 1771, 
aged eighty-two. For her descendants see the family of 
John Bell. 

Andrew T(>i>i> maiTied Beatrix Moore, in Ireland, and 
early became a leading man in^the town. He represented 
the town in the provincial legislature, and held a commis- 
sion in the French war of 1744, and again in the war of 
1755, and held the rank of colonel of the provincial levies 
at the close of his military service. He gained a high rep- 
utation by his services in those wars, and was one of the 
marked men of his time. He had five sons and two daugh- 
ters. Towards the close of his life he removed to Peter- 
borough, where one of his sons had settled. He died at 
Peterborough, about 1778, aged over eighty years. His 
children were : — 

Alexander, who lived in Hooksett, N. H., upon a handsome 
interval on the Merrimack, now known as the Todd Farm, 

26 



302 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

from whicli he returned to Londonderry. He married a 
daughter of Deacon George 'Duncan, of Londonderry, and 
had several children. He. was a captain in the provincial 
levies, in the last French war. He died at Londonderry, 
aged about seventy. 

Jolin^ who was drowned at Amoskeag Falls, abojit 1754, 
aged twenty-four. 

James, who resided at the house where his father lived, in 
Aiken's Range, and died of hemorrhage of the lungs. 

Andrew, who died unmarried, aged seventy. 

A daughter, who married a Mr. Miller. 

kachel, who married Moses Morrison, of Peterborough. 

Samuel, who married a Miss Morrison, and lived and died 
at Peterborough. Deacon John Todd, who lately died at 
Peterborough, at a very advanced age, was his son. 

FAMILIES OF JOHN AND THOMAS WALLAGE. 

John Wallage came from the county of Antrim, Ire- 
land, to Londonderry, in 1719 or 1720, and was married to 
Annis Barnett, on the 18th of May, 1721, being the first 
couple married in Londonderry. They had four sons and 
four danghters. The sons were James, Samuel, William, 
and John ; the daughters «were Ann, Janet, Sarah, and 
Rebecca. 

James married Mary Wallace, a cousin of his father. 
They lived " over the brook," on the farm now owned by 
Captain Upton. Mrs. Siraeon Danforth and Mrs. William 
Montgomery are their granddaughters. 

Samuel married Letitia Clark. They had four daughters 
and no son. One of the daughters was married to Deacon 
James Pinkerton, as his second wife ; another to Robert 
Clark, of New Boston ; another to John Clark, of Hancock, 
and another to a Mr. Porter, of Yermont. His widow after- 
wards married Deacon Robert Moor, by whom she had two 
. daughters and one son ; Jane, Mary, and Samuel. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 303 

William married Hannah Tliornton. They had tliree 
sons ; William, James, and John ; and two daughters, Han- 
nah and Catherine. William and James settled at Niagara, 
in Upper Canada, prior to 1800, and remained there until the 
war of 1812. They had acquired a very large property; 
and were the owners of forty thousand acres of choice land, 
on Grand River, besides a large amount of village property 
at Niagara. But they were too patriotic to take up arms 
against their native country. They therefore left all their 
possessions in Canada, to be confiscated by the government, 
and came to Rochester, and were among the early settlers 
of that city. 1. William died in 1823, and left a daughter, 
Charity, and four sons ; Matthew T., William, James, and 
John. They all reside in Brooklyn, N. Y. 2. James still 
survives, and is living with Jiis second wife. He is -eighty- 
seven years of age ; a man of strong mind and energy^ 
of character. He now resides in BufFalo, N. Y. He has 
no child living. 3. John married, and settled in the town '■ 
of Thornton, N. H. He died a few years since, leaving a 
family. 4. Hannah was never married. She died soon 
after her mother, on the homestead, the farm now owned 
by Mr. Robert Chase, near the Lower Village. 5. Catherine 
married James Cox, removed to Holderness, N- H., and 
had a large family. 

John married Sarah Woodburn, of the High Range. He 
settled in Bedford ; Rev. Cyrus Wallace, of Manchester, 
is one of his descendants. 

Ann married William Clark, of New Boston, the father 
of Robert and John Clark. 

Janet married Matthew Dickey, the father of John Dickey, • 
Esq., — formerly of this town, — and of three other sons ; 
Ebenezer, James, and Samuel ; also of two daughters, Sarah 
and Rebecca. 

Thomas Wallage, brother of John Wallage, who 
raarried Annis Barnett, and Jean, his wife, emigrated from 



L 



304 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

Coleraine, in the coiinty of Antrim, in Ireland, to London- 
derry, N. H., in the year 1726. They were not married 
when they came to this country ; an acquaintance was formed 
on their passage, which resulted in marriage. Her maiden 
name was Jean Wallace, and she was a sister of Joseph 
Wallace, who was one of the early settlers of Milford, N. H., 
and many of whose descendants have resided in'that town. 
Thomas Wallace and his wife settled on the farm formerly 
owned by elder John Fisher. They had four sons ; James, 
Joseph, William, and John ; and four daughters ; Janet, 
Margaret, Ann, and Betsey. After the birth of all their 
children, they reraoved to Bedford, N. H., and were the 
eighth family that settled that town. 

James settled in Bedford, and married Mary Lind; by 
whom he had one son, Thomas, and three daughters, Ann, 
Mary, and Betsey. By his second wife, Sarah Riddle, he 
had two sons, James and John, and one daughtcr. Sarah O. 

Joseph married Mary Scoby, and settled in Acworth, 
N. H. They had three sons ; Thomas, John, and Joseph ; 
and four daughters ; Susan, Martha, Mary Ann, and Marga- 
ret. , All this family, with the exception of two maiden 
daughters, are dead, and have left no issue. 

William married Ann Scoby, sister of the wife of Joseph, 
and settled in Merrimack, N. H. They had five sons ; 
Joseph, James, David, John P., and Adam; and three 
daughters, Jane, Ann, and Sarah. 

John married Isabella Witherspoon, and settled in Bed- 
ford. They had seven sons ; Hobert, Samuel, Ande, Isaac, 
Jesse, William, Thomas, and George O, and two daughters, h 
.Janet and Polly. Doctors Thomas and Isaac Wallace were 
of this family. 

Janet, Ann, and Betsey were never married. 

Margaret married George Qrr, of Bedford. They had 
four daughters ; Jane, Eleanor, Ann, and Margaret, No 
one of this family is now living. 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 305 

FAMILY OF THOMAS WALLAGE. 

Another branch of the Wallace family is as follows : 

Thomas Wallage, a nephew of John Wallace, came 
from the county of Antrim, Ireland, about the year 1732, 
and settled near the West Parish meeting-house. He had 
four sons ; Robert, Thomas, William, and James ; and one 
daughter, Mary. - 

Robert owned and occupied the Cobb Farm, east of the 
meeting-house, and died without issue. 

Thomas owned the farm lately occupied by Boyes and 
Gilchrist, and also died without issue. 

William w^ educated at Edinburgh, Scotland, for the 
ministry, and died at Londonderry, March 27, 1733, aged 
twenty-six. He was the first person buried in the " Hill 
graveyard." 

Mary married James Wallace, her cousin's son, and was 
distinguished from the other Mary Wallace at the West 
meeting-house, as " Mary over the brook," as above men- 
tioned. 

James, the youngest son of Thomas Wallace, married 
Mary Wilson, who was born on board of a pirate ship, in 
1720, — a memorable fact, which is noticed in the account 
of the Woodburn family. They had four sons; Thomas, 
Robert, William, and James ; and one daughter, Elizabeth. 
1. Thomas married a Miss Gregg; was in the battle of Ben- 
nington, and died soon after his return home. He had one 
son, now living in Weare, N. H. The other three brothers 
married three sisters, Jane, Hannah, and Ann Moore, of the 
English Range, and they all settled in Henniker. 2. Robert 
had four sons ; James, Robert M., Thomas, and William ; and 
one daughter, Mary. James and Thomas married ladies by 
the name of Bowman ; the former continued to reside in 
Henniker, the latter settled in Goffstov^, where he died, 
leaving four sons and one daughter. ifobert M. married 
Jane Morrison, daughter of Rev. William Morrison, of Lon- 

26* 



306 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

donderry. William was killed by the blasting of a rock. 
Mary married Peter Patterson, of Londonderry, and had 
two sons and three daughters. 3. William, son of James 
Wallace, helped to survey and lay out the town of Henniker, 
held various offices of trust, and was a prominent and useful 
citizen. He left four sons and four daughters. But two of 
his children survive ; James, who lives in Lynn, Mass., and 
Mary, (Mrs. Gove, of Deering, N. H.) 4. James died a 
few years after his settlement in Henniker, leaving a soa 
and two daughters, all of whom are dead. 5. Elizabeth 
married Thomas Patterson. For her children, see notice of 
the Patterson families. 

Besides the three Wallace families which have been 
noticed, there were two other families of Wallaces, of whom 
but little information has been obtained. The ancestors of 
these two families were two brothers, Joseph and John Wal- 
lace, who emigrated from the north of Ireland, and settled 
in Londonderry, about the year 1726. Jean Wallace, who 
married Thomas Wallace, was their sister. 

Joseph Wallage married in Ireland, and came to 
America with his wife and one son, William, who was then 
about five years of age. After his arrival in this country 
he had several other children, of whom, however, but little 
is known. 

William married Mary Burns, who, with her parents, 
had emigrated from Ireland in company with him and his 
parents, and in 1755, settled in Milford, N. H. He had five 
children, as foUows : 1. Joseph, who married Letitia Burns, 
settled in Milford, and had several children ; of whom the 
eldest was Dr. William Wallace, late of Bedford. 2. John 
who married Mary Bradford, and had ten children ; among 
whom were Dr. John Wallace, of Milford, deceased, formerly 
senator and councillor, and Andrew Wallace, Esq., now 
living at Amherst, N. H. 3. Mary, who married Israël 
Burnham, of Lyndeborough, N. H., and had one child, who 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 307 

is now living. 4. William, who died unmarried. 5. James, 
who lived in Milford, married Betsey Kimball of Amherst, 
and after her death, a Miss Tuttle, of Littleton, Mass. By 
his first wife he had several children, one of whom is Elishg. 
F. Wallace, Esq., of Syraciise, N. Y. 

John Wallage married Janet Steele, and had six 
daughters, as follows : — 

Jane married David Jennings. \ ^ ^\^ 

Mary married Samuel Miller. tr-**^^^ ^ 

Elizaheth married Solomon Todd. ^0" 

Margaret married Samuel Gregg. ' 

Janet married Hugh MeCutchins. "W^V^ S" *" '^^ "^ 

Ann married Samuel Cherry. 

THE FAMILY OF JOHN WOODBURN. 

John Woodburn came to this country from Ireland a 
few years after the settlement of Londonderry. Little is 
known of hira previously to his emigration. He was 
accompanied by his brother David, who was drowned some 
years after, leaving a wife and two daughters. 

John Woodburn was married first to Mary Boyd, after- 
wards to Mary Taggart. His first location was east of the 
old Graveyard Hill, on the farm recently occupied by E-obert 
Craige. He subsequently removed to the High Range, and 
lived the remainder of his days in a log-house that had been 
used as a garrison for protection against the assaults of the 
Indians. He died in 1780. By his first marriage he had 
four daughters. 

Nancy, the eldest, married James Anderson, of whose 
descendants was the Rev. Rufus Anderson, late of Wenham, 
Mass., and his son, Rev. Dr. Anderson, of Boston, Secretary 
oftheA. B. C. F. M. 

Margaret married Edward Aiken, who took part in the 
settlement of Windham, Vt. 

Sarah married John Wallace, of Bedford, from whom are 



308 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

descended many of the Wallace and Patten families of that 
town. The Rev. Cyrus Wallace, of Manchester, is one of 
their descendants. 

31ary married General George Reid. Mrs Reid was 
well adapted to the circle in which she moved. Possessing 
a strong and vigorous intellect, retentive memory, a bland 
and cheerful disposition, with great equanimity of temper, 
she exerted a powerful and happy influence over the more 
excitable and strong passions of her husband, whose military 
life had served to give prominence to those traits of charac- 
ter by which he was distinguished. He was, in his more 
public life, much indebted to her wisdom and prudence in his 
domestic arrangements, which happily illustrated the Divine 
encomium of the prudent wife, that " her husband is known 
in the gates, when he sitteth among the rulers* of the land." 
Those who knew Mrs. Reid, regarded her as a pattern of 
female excellence. She lived to an advanced age, and died 
respected by the community. 

By his second marriage. Mr. Woodburn had two sons and 
five daughters. Mrs. Woodburn survived her husband, and 
lived to a very advanced age. 

David, the eldest son, inherited the paternal estate. He 
married Margaret Clark, the granddaughter of a Mrs. Wil- 
son, whose history was a subject of interest to the early set- 
tlers. In 1720, a company of emigrants, on their passage 
from Ireland to tliis country, were taken by pirates, and 
while in their hands, Mrs. Wilson was delivered of her first 
child, which so moved the pirate band, and particularly 
the captain, who had a wife and family, that he permitted 
them to pursue their voyage, bestowing upon Mrs. Wilson 
some valuable articles of apparel, among which was a silk 
dress, pieces of which are still retained among her descend- 
ants, as memorials of her peril and of her deliverance. The 
captain of the band obtaincd from her the promise, that she 
would call the babe by the name of his wife. The company 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 309 

of emigrants arrived safely, and were among the early set- 
tlers of this town. 'Their signal deliverance was commem- 
orated by the annual observance of a day of thanksgiving, 
during that generation. The child was named Mary, and 
became the wife of James Wallace. Mrs. Wilson, after the 
death of her husband, married Jame^Clark, whose son John 
was the father of Mrs. Woodburn. 

David Woodburn and wife were the matemal grand- 
parents of the Hon. Horace Greely, the well-known and dis- 
tinguished editor of the New York Tribune ; and to the 
mother of Mr. Woodburn — Granny Woodburn, as she was fa- 
miHarly called — he attributes his earliest intellectual awaken- 
ing. In a letter to a friend, published in the Business Mensi 
Almanac, he says, " I think I am indebted for my first impulse 
toward intellectual acquirement and exertion to my mother's 
grandmother, who came out from Ireland among the first 
settlers in Londonderry. She must have been well versed 
in Irish and Scotch traditions, pretty well informed, and 
strong minded ; and my mother being left motherless when 
quite young, her grandmother exerted a great influence over 
her mental development. I was a third child, the two pre- 
ceding having died young, and I presume my mother was 
more attached to me on that ground, and the extreme feeble- 
ness of my constitution. My mind was early fiUed by her 
with the traditions, ballads, and snatches of history she 
had learned from her grandmother, which, though conveying 
very distorted and incorrect ideas of history, yet served to* 
awaken in me a thirst for knowledge, and a lively interest 
in learning and history." " Mr. Greely," says another of her 
descendants, " lias not mistaken the character and intellectual 
qualities of this remote ancestol'. She lived to see her chil- 
dren's grandchildren ; and the stories, ballads, and facts 
which her experience and memory had treasured up, were 
the principal historical training which many of her posterity 
obtained," 



310 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

David Woodburn, by his first marriage, had several chil- 
dren, only three of wlioiii survive. 

John^ the younger son, married Martha Clark, and was 
among the early settlers of Londonderry, Yt. They had a 
family of three sons and five da'ughters, many of wbose 
descendants now residS in the towns of Windham and Lon- 
donderry, Vt. 

Of the five remaining children of John "Woodburn, Senior, 
one was never married, two were married to husbands of the 
name of Thompson, and removed to Grafton, Vt. 

Betsey was married to William Aiken. They were among 
the pioneers in the settlement of Deering, N. H., several of 
•^vhose children and grandchildren reside in that town. 
Among the grandchildren of William and Betsey Aiken, are 
Thomas W. Gillis, of Nashua, N. H., and David Gillis, of 
IManchester. N. H. 

Hannah, the j'^oungest of John Woodburn's family, mar- 
ried Robert Dickey. They had eleven children ; six sons 
and five daughters, all of whom lived to form connections in 
life, and with one exception were settled within a few miles 
of their paternal home ; and all of whom except one are still 
living, the youngest being about fifty years of age. Mrs. 
Dickey was well known to the inhabitants of the parish in 
which she so long lived, and was highly esteemed as a mother 
jn Israël. She possessed strong and valuable traits of char- 
acter. She was distinguished for her industry and economy 
in the management of her domestic afi^airs, but not less so for 
her firm adherence to evangelical truth, and her anxious 
desire and efibrts that her children, grandchildren, and great- 
grandchildren whom she lived to. see, might all become the 
decided followers of Christ, and be seen walking in the truth. 
She died in 1845, aged ninety-two. 

Like many of the pioneers in the settlement of London- 
derry, the descendants of Mr. Woodburn attained to great 
age, many of them living to the age of eighty, and several to 



GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES. 311 

that of ninetj and upwards. They were an atliletic race, 
capable of great endurance. They were strong in their 
attaebments, and fond of social intercourse. They were noted 
for retentive memory, retaining in advaneed life an uncom- 
monly vivid impression of the events of their youthful days. 
John Woodburn, grandson of the first settler by his son 
David, still inherits the paternal homestead in the High 
Range, and with his brother James, living in Windham, are 
the principal branches of the family that retain the name. 
Of their four sisters, Margaret is the wife of John Dickey, 
and still lives in the town. Mary was married to Zaccheus 
Greely, and is the mother of Horace Greely, and four other 
children, who reside in the State of Pennsylvania. Sarah 
was married to Dustin Greely, brother of Zaccheus, who 
had six children. Subsequently, she became the wife of 
Clark Simonds. Mary Ann married Benjamin Dwinnels, 
and lives in the State of New York. The children of this 
early settler are numerous, and contribute largely to con- 
stitute the hundred thousand who are supposed to have 
descended froni the early settlers of Londonderry. 



[The füllowing communication in relatiou to the origin of most of 
the famiUes residing in the present town of Londonderry, from an 
intelligent friend in that town, •■was rcceived by the Editor after the 
preceding chapters of this work had gone to press. It is here inserted, 
in the belief that it cannot fa il to be interesting.] 

" Formany years after the settlement of Londonderry, there 
was a marked distinction between the Scotch Irish inhabitants 
and those of English origin. This was a natural consequence, 
as they were the representatives of two nations, distinct as 
are the English and the French. The ' Yankees ' possessed 
the characteristics of the English people, modified by the 
residence of their ancestors, during the preceding century. 



312 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

in the wilds of New England; while the first settlers of 
Londonderry claimed to be the possessors of the better 
qualities of both the Scotch and the Irish. Tlie two races 
had inherited a mutual dislike from their ancestors, and it 
is not strange that a Httle of the old bitterness should remain 
when they became neighbors. As the English race multi- 
plied in the town, and as time wore away, this clannish spirit 
gradually softened, and has, at length, nearly disappeared. 
While this feeUng of disKke prevailed, very few instances of 
intermarriage occurred, and the consequence is that the two 
classes are pretty distinct at the present day. 

" The following are the names of the principal families 
now in Londonderry, of Scotch Irish descent : Macgregore, 
Moor, Adams, Karr, Aiken, Dickey, Watts, Mack, Holmes, 
-Nevins, Boyd, Dana, Boice, Conant, Alexander, McAllister, 
Patterson, Anderson, Morrison, Humphrey, Campbell, Dun- 
can, Woodburn, Nesmith, McClearey, White, Clark, Willson, 
McDuffee, McMurphy, Martin, Fling, Wallace. 

"Many family names, which were once common, have 
become extinct. Over half a century ago, a pretty ex- 
tensive emigration took place from Essex county, Mass. 
The Savory and Tenny families came, about sixty years 
since, from Bradford, and subsequently the Barker and 
Hardy families, from the same place. The Crowells and 
Plummers came from Rowley. The Towns and Dwinnells 
originated in Topsfield. The Gilchrist family were from 
Methuen. The Batchelder family from Beverly. In Essex 
county, also, originated the Goodwin, Corning, Annis, 
Avery, Leach, Greeley, Kimball, and Whittier families, etc. 
The Manter, Ripley, and Sampson families were from the 
town of Duxbury, Plymouth county, Mass. In later years, 
the Burbank, Coffin, Wallace, and Peabody families have 
come from Oxford county, Maine. The Hurd family were 
from Charlestown, Ma'fes., the Dinsmoors from Boston, and 
the Chases from Brentwood, N. li." 




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APPENDIX. 



( 



TOPOGRAPHY OF LOXDOXDERRY — MEMORIAL TO GOV. SIIUTE — 

WHEELWRIGHT's deed CHARTE» OF THE TOWN — JUSTICE 

M'kEEN's COMMISSION — AX EARLT PARISII TAX-LIST — 3IEMO- 
RIAL TO THE GENERAL COURT — ASSOCIATIOX TEST — SOLDIERS 
OF THE REVOLUTION — PETITION FOR AN ACT REGÜLATING 
PARISH VOTERS — ROBERT MACGREGOr's DEED OF THE COMMOX 

AND GRAVETARD LISTS OF REPRESENTATITES AND TOWN OF- 

FICERS — LAWTERS — PHYSICI ANS — GRADÜATES. 



TOPOaRAP^Y OF LONBONDERRY. 

The town of Londonderiy, including Derry, is situated in 
lat. 42° 54' north, and in long. 5° 45' east, from Washington. It 
is bounded on the north by Manchester, Auburn, and Chester, 
a distance of twelve and one-half miles ; on the east, by San- 
down, Hampstead, and Atkinson, four and one-half niiles ; on the 
south, by Salem, Windham, and Hudson, fourteen miles ; and on 
the west by Litchfield and Manchester, seven miles. The town 
is thirty-seven miles north of Boston, twenty-five southeast of 
Concord, and tliirty-five southwest of Portsmouth. lts loca- 
tion is highly favorable for communication, not only with our 
principal seaports, by means of a railroad which passes through 
it, but with the several large manufacturing and business places 
which have arisen in its "sdcinity. Manchester, Nashville, Nashua, 
Lowell, Lawrence, and HaverhiU are all %ithin sixteen miles of 
it, and some of those towns are much nearer. It thus possesses 
advantages for trade and marketing, superior to those of most 
mtry towns. 

lts soil is generally strong and productive, covered in its natu- 

i\ state with various kinds of hard wood, intermixed in some 

parts with the white and yellow pine. The butternut, chestnut, 

27 



314 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

and walnut trees formerly abounded bere, and gave to the town 
its early name, Nutfield. 

The town is traversed by tliree leading roads running in a 
northerly and soiitherly dlrection. The first on the west is the 
road leading from Manchester to Nashua, passing through the 
High Range. The second is the Mammoth road, made in 1831, 
and designed to be the leading road from Concord to Lowell. It 
•was for a few years the great thoroughfare, until the Concord 
railroad superseded it in 1842. The third is the Londonderry 
turnpike, built in 1807, and for some years one of the most 
travelled roads in the vicinity. Yarious changes and enterprises 
contributed, at length, to diveii; the travel ^m the road, and in 
1838, it was thrown by the proprietors upon the towns through 
which it passed, and became a free road. The Manchester and 
Lawrence railroad, opened in 1849, runs in nearly the same di- 
rection. Thcre are various roads from the west, leading from 
Moor's, Read's, and Thornton's ferries, and from Nashua, which 
intersect those before named, and, converging, meet at Derry 
Village ; while on the east, are those leading from Chester, Ex- 
eter, and Hampstead, which meet in the same place. 

The surface of the township exhibits gentle swells, without 
any high hills or precipitous cliff's. The whole extent of the west 
side, bordering on Litchfield, for a nfife in width, is level, and 
was until recently a nearly unbroken forest, known as the hack 
woods. But the late demand for wood and timber in the manu- 
facturing towns on the Merrimack, and its vicinity to the river, 
gave to it an unexpected value. Much of this tract has, within 
twenty years, been stripjDed of its growth and converted into 
pasture land. 

Next to this range of flat land is a tract well adapted to agri- 
culture. It is divided into Avell-cultivated farms. The southern 
part is termed the High Range, an extensive swell of excellent 
land, well suited to tillage. Its neat dwellings, undulating roads, 
and gentle slope to the east and south, render it one of the most 
pleasant locations in town. 

A mile east is Moose Hill, so called from the fact that, in the 
early scttlement of the «Dwn, a moose was there taken. Its west- 
erly side is mostly covered with wood, but on the east and south 
are some valuable and highly cultivatcd farms. In the vicinity of 



this spot, and on the Mammoth road is the site of the Presbyte- K 

Moose l\ 

I 



rian meeting-house in Londonderry. About a mile from Moose l 
Hill, in a northeasterly direction, is Ministerial Hill, thus termed V. 
from a lot of land, «on its westerly side, ha ving been set off by the 



APPENDIX. 315 

parisli for the iise of tlie minister. It is principally covered with 
wood and timber. A little farther north is Canada, or Bartley's 
Hill. Aroiind its base are many produetive farms, although the 
soil is difficult of cultivation. From this point eastward, all along 
the northern border of the town, is a wide extent of woodland, 
interspersed with here and there a farm-house, but with no com- 
pact settlement. 

A little more than a mile eastward from Moose Hill, is the 
Graveyard Hill, having near its summit one of the earliest 
burying-places in town. A meeting-house was formerly erected 
here for the Rev. David MacGregor, but, owing to the erection of 
one soon after in Aiken's Range, and certain changes in the par- 
ish, it was not occupied and soon went to decay. 

A little farther east, separated by a deep valley, is Craige's Hill. 
From this hill there is a partial view of the Lower village, and a 
distinct and delightful view of Aiken's Range, the Upper \illage 
of Derry, its meeting-house, and most of its buildings, forming in 
the season of summer foliage one of the most beautiful land- 
scapes on which the eye can rest. Derry Lower village is situated 
in the valley of Beaver Brook, about a mile southwest of Beaver 
Pond. Here are the Congregational and Methodist meeting-houses, 
the Pinkerton Academy, a grist-mill and saw-mill, several me- 
chanic shops, and two stores. It contains from forty to fifty families. 

North of Beaver Pond is the Enghsh Range, situated on a 
beautiful and fertile swell of land, rising with a gentle ascent 
from the pond, and forming one of the most pleasant agricultural 
neighborhoods in the town. On the south of the pond the land 
rises in an even and magnificent swell, on the summit of which is 
the Presbj-terian meeting-house, occup3^ng the original site se- 
lected by the first settlers. Extending from it, to the east and 
south, is the village, including the Adams Female Academy, two 
stores, and a number of handsomely finished dwelHngs. The 
farms in this part of the town are unsurpassed in productive- 
ness, and many of them present specimens of agricultural taste 
and industry. About a mile southwest from the meeting-house 
is the Doublé Range, where was formed the earliest settlement in 
town. 

The more southerly part of the tOAvn, though not so compactly 
settled, contains many excellent farms. The land is much diver- 
sified with hills and valleys, but is less stony and hard, particular- 

that portion of it which borders on Beaver Brook, than the 
- )rthern part of the town. 

The eastern side of the town, bordering on Sandown and 



316 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Hampstcad, is less even in its surface than some other parts. 
Tliough nndulating, it is not rougli and brokcn, but most of it is 
susceptible of cultivation, affording gootl tillage as well as pastur- 
ing. Here are many good farms and orcbards, with valuable 
wood-lots. 

In tbe southeast corner of tbe town is Island Pond, an extensive 
sheet of Avater, in the middle of which is a large island, improved 
as a farm. The east line of the town passes through this pond. 
It is well supplied with fish, and is often visited by those wh,o are 
fond of ano-ling. 

The soil of the townsliip is well adapted to the production of 
grass. Indian corn, oats, and potatoes, of an excellent quality, are 
easily raised. The pear, peach, plum, cherry, and quince thrive 
well. Apples are produced in abundance, and most of the 
orchards are composed of grafted fruit-trees. 

Beaver Brook is the most considerable stream in the town. It 
issues from Beaver Pond, and, running in a southwesterly direc- 
tion through Pelham, empties into the Merrimack at Dracut. 

Beaver Pond is a beautiful body of water, nearly in a circular 
form, and about three hundred rods in diameter. It is in fuU 
view of the Upper village, and, being surrounded by well culti- 
vated farms, adds much to the delightful scenery there presented. 
Three miles northwest from this pond are three other ponds, 
Scoby's, and upper and lower Shield's. Small streams issuing 
from these unite and fall into Beaver Brook, on which are, for 
some miles, extensive and valuable meadows. In the westerly 
part of the town are also several streams sufficiënt for mill pur- 
poses, which empty, after a short course, into the Merrimack 
river. 

The population of Londonderry by the census of 1767, was 
2,389 ; bythat of 1775, was 2,590; bythat of 1790, was 2,622 ; by 
that of 1800, was 2,650 ; bythat of 1810, was 2,766 ; and bythat 
of 1820, was 3,127. By the census of 1830, the population of Derry 
was 2,178, and that of Londonderry was 1,469. By the census 
of 1840, the population of Derry was 2,034, and that of London- 
derry was 1,556. By the census of 1850, the population of 
Derry is 1,850, and that of Londonderry is 1,563. 

^Some idea of the comparative wealth of the town may be 
formed from the proportion of State taxes it has paid. 

By the apportionment of taxes made in 1820, of every onc 
thousand dollars of public taxes, Londonderry paid $13.27. By^ 
the apportionment of 1829, Derry paid $7.54, and Londonderry 
$5.17; by that of 1832, Derry paid $7.94, and Londonderry 



APPENDIX. 317 

$5.17 ; by that of 1836, Derry paid $8.80, and Londonderry paid 
$5.32 ; by that of 1840, Derry paid $8.43, and Londonderry 
$5.08 ; by that of 1844, Derry paid $7.84, and Londonderry 
$5.14 ; and by that of 1848, Derry pays $7.00, and Londonderry 
$4.97. 

The decrease in the proportion of taxes paid is to be attribut- 
ed, mainly, to the growth of several large manufacturing places 
in the State, and not to a diminution of the wealth of the town. 



COPY OF THE MEMORIAL TO GOV. SHUTE. 

[The original manuscript, from which the following copy was taken, 
Avas presented to Mr. Daniel MacGregor, of the city of New York, by 
the late AldenBradford, Esq., who was for many years Secretavy of the 
State of Massachusetts.] 

To His Excellency the Right Honourable CoUonel Samuel Suitte 

Governour of New England. 

We whose names are underwritten, Inhabitants of ye North 
of L-eland, Doe in our own names, and in the names of 
many others our Neighbours, Gentlemen, Ministers, Farmers 
and Tradesmen Commissionate and appoint our trusty and well 
beloved Friend, the Reverend Mr. William Boyd of Macasky 
to His Excellency the Right Honourable Collonel Samuel Suitte 
Governour of New England, and to assure His Excellency of our 
sincere «,nd hearty Inclination to Transport our selves to that very 
excellent and renowned Plantation upon our obtaining from his 
Excellency suitable incouragemeut. And further to act and 
Doe in our Names as his Prudence shall direct. Given under 
our hands this 26th day of March, Annoq. Dom. 1718. 

James Teatte, Y. D. M., Jahon Andrson, 

Thomas Cobham, V. D. M., George Grege, 

Robert Houston, V. D. M., Andrew Dean, 

William Leech, V. D. M., Alexander Dunlop, M. A., 

Robert Higinbotham, Y. D. M., Arch. M. Cook, M. A., 

John Porter, Y. D. M., Alex'r Blair, 

Hen. Neille, Y. D. M., B. Cochran, 

Tho. Elder, Y. D. M., William Galt, 

James Thomson, Y. D. M.,. Peter Thompson, 

William Ker, Richart McLaughlin, 

Will. McAlben, John Muar, 



318 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 



Willcam Jeameson, 
Wm, Agncw, 
Jeremiah Thompson, 
John Mitchell, 
James Paterson, 
Joseph Curry, 
David Willson, 
Patrick Anderson, 
John Gray, 
James Greg, 
Alex'r McBride, Bart., 
Sam. McGivom, 
John Hurdock, 
Geo. Campbell, 
James Shorswood, 
John McLauglilen, 
George McLaughlen, 
James Henre, 
Thomas Ramsay, 
Francis Richie, 
James Gregg, 
Robert Boyd, 
Hugh Tarbel, 
David Tarbel, 

his 
John M Robb, 

mark 

Jeatter Fulltone, 
Robt. Wear, 
Alex'r Donnaldson, 
Arch'd Duglass, 
Robert Stiven, 
Robt. Henry, 
James Pettey, 
David Bigger, 
David ■ Patteson, 
David (illegible), 
John Wight, 
Joseph Wight, 
Robt. Willson, 
James Ball, 
Andrew Cord, 
James Nesmith, 



John Black, 
John Thompson, 
Samuel Boyd, 
Lawrence McLaughlen, 
John Heslet, 
George McAlester, 
Thomas Ramadge, 
James Campbell, 
David Lindsay, 
Robt. Giveen, 
James Laidlay, 
Benjamin Galt, 
Daniel Todd, 
Robt. Barr, 
Hugh Hollmes, 
Robt. King, 
John Black, 
Peter Christy, 
James Smith, 
James Smith, 
Patrick Smith, 
Sameuel Ceverelle, 
James Craig, 
Samuel Wilson, M. A., 
Gawen Jirwen, 
Robert Miller, 
Thomas Wilson, 
William Wilson, 
James Brice, 
Ninian Pattison, 
James Thompson, 
John Thompson, 
Robert Thompson, 
Adam Thompson, 
Alexander Pattison, 
Thomas Dunlop, 
John Willson, 
David Willson, 
John Moor, 
James McKeen, 
John Lamont, 
John Smith, 



APPENDIX. 



319 



Patrlck OiT, 
Bonill Orr, 
William Orr, 
John Orr, 
Jeams Lenox, 
John Leslie, 
John Lason, 
John Calvil, 
Samuel Wat, 
James Craford, 
David Henderson, 
Matheu Storah, (?) 
David Widborn, 
Luk Wat, 
Robert Hendre, 
William Walas, 
Thomas Walas, 
Thomas Cewch, (?) 
William Boyd, 
William Christy, 
John Boyd, 
William Boyd, 
Hugh Orr, 
Robert Johnston, 
Thomas Black, 

\ / Peter Murray, 
*' John Jameson, 
John Cochran, 
Samuel Gonston, 
Thomas Shadey, 
William Ker, 
Thomas Moore, 
Andrew Watson, 
John Thonson, 
James McKerrall, 
Hugh Stockman, 
Andrew Cochran, 
James Carkley, 
Lawrence Dod, 
Sandrs Mear, 
John Jackson, 
James Curry, 

-» James Elder, 



James Acton, 
(name illegible), 
Samuel Smith, 
Andrew Dodg, 
James Forsaith, 
Andrew Fleeming, 
Gorge Thomson, 
James Brouster, 
Thomas (illegible), 
James Baverlan, 
Peter Simpson, 
Thomas McLaughHn, 
Robert Boyd, 
Andrew Agnew, 
James King, 
Thomas Elder, 
Daniel Johnston, 
Robert Walker, 
David Jonston, 
yJames Steuart, 
y John Murray, 
Thomas Blackwel, 
Thomas Wilson, 
John Ross, 
William Johnston, 
John King, 
Andrew Curry, 
John (illegible), 
James (illegible), 
Samuel Code, 
James Blak, 
Thomas Gro, 
Thomys Onston, 
Jame Gro, 
John Clark, 
Thomas McFader, 
David Hanson, 
Richard Acton, 
James Claire, 
Thomas Elder, 
Jeremiah Claire, 
Jacob Clark, 
Abram Baberley, 



320 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



Stephen Murdock, 

Robert Murdock, 

John Murdock, 

William Jennson, 

James Rodeer, 

John Buyers, 

Robert Smith, 

Adam Dean, 

Randall Alexander, 

Thomas Boyd, 

Hugh Rogers, 

John Craig, 
"' Wm. Boyle, 

Benj. Boyle, 

Ja. Kenedy, 

M. Stirling, 

Samuel Ross, 
John Ramsay, 

John McKeen, 
James Willsone, 
Robert McKeen, 
John Boyd, 
Andrew Dunlap, 
James Ramsey, 
WilHam Park, 
John Blair, 
James Thompson, 
Lawrence McLaughlin, 
Wül. CampibeU, 
James Bankhead, 
Andrew Patrick, 
James McFee, 
James Tonson, (?) 
George Anton, 
James Anton, 
George Kairy, 
Thomas Freeland, 
Thomas Hunter, 

hjs 
Daniel 'A McKerrell, 

mark 

Horgos (?) Kcnedey, 

his 

John A Suene, 
mark 



Adam y^ Ditkoy 

mark 
Alexander Kid, 
Thomas Lorle, 
Thomas Hines, 

WiU A Halkins, 

mark 

George Anton, 
John Colbreath, 
William Caird, 
John Gray, 
John Woodman, (?) 
Andrew Watson, 
William Bleair, 
Joseph Bleair, 

his 

Hugh X Blare, 

mark 

William Blare, 

Samuel Anton, 

James Knox, 

Robert Hendry, 

John Knox, 

William Hendry, 

William Dunkan, 

David Duncan, 

John Muree, 

James Gillmor, 

Samuel Gillmor, 

Alexander Chocran, 

Edward MKene, 

John Morduck, . 
his 

Samuel V\ McMun, 

mark 

Henry Calual, 
Thomas McLaughlen, 
Robert Hoog, 
John Millar, 
Hugh Calwell, 
William Boyd, 
John Stirling, 
Samuel Smith, 
John Lamond, 



1^ 



'^ 



\\ 



APPENDIX. 



321 



Robert Lamond, 
Robert Knox 
William Wilson, 
Wm. Paterson, 
James Alexander, 
James Nesmith, 
David Craig, 
WcaU. McNeall, 
Thomas Orr, 
Wm. Caldwall, 
James Moore, Jr., 
Sam. Gunion, 
MatthcAv Lord, 
Robert Knox, 
Alex. McGregore, 
James Trotter, 
Alexander McNeall, 
Robert Roo, 
Jpsepli Watson, 
Robert [Miller, 
John Smeally, 
James Morieson, 
James Walker, 
Robert Walker, 
Robert Walker, 

William ><! Calwall, 

mark 

William Walker, 



Samuel t^" Young, 

mark 

Alexander Richey, 
James Morieson, 

his 

Joseph X Beverlan, 

. mark 
his 

Robert ki Crage, 

mark 

John Thompson, 
Hugh Tomson, 
James Still, 

his 

James X Hoog, 

mark 

Thomas Hanson, 
John Hanson, 
Richard Etone, 
James Etone, 
Thomas Etone, 
Samuell Hanson, 
James Cochran, 
James Hulton, (?) 
Thomas Hasetone, (?) 
John Cochran, 
William Cochran, 

his 

Samuel r^ Huntor, 

mark 
John Huntor. 



J^ 



1 



COPY OF WHEELWRIGHT'S DEED. 

These presents mtnesseth, that I, John Wheelwright, of' Wells, 
in the county of Yorke, in the pro^4nce of the Massachusetts 
Bay, do for me myself, Heirs, Executors, Administrators, and 
Assigns, by virtue of a Deed or Grant made to my Grandfather, 
a minister of the Gospel, and others named in said Grant, ¥y 
sundry Indian Sagemores, with the consent of ye whole tribe of 
Indians between the Rivers of Meremaike and Pescutequa, to 
them and their Heirs forever fuU power for the laying out 
bounding and Granting these Lands into suitable tracts for town- 



322 * HISTORT OF LONDONDERRY. 

ships, unto such numbers of People as may from time td time 
offer to settle and Improve the same, wliich deed beareth date, 
May the seventeenth, onc thousand sLx hundred and twenty and 
nine, Executed, Acknowledged, and approved by the authority 
in the Day, as may at large more fully appear. Pursuant there- 
unto I Do, by these presents, Give and Grant all my Right Title 
and Interest therein contained for the ends, uses abovesaid, unto 
Mr. James MacGregor, Samuel Graves, David Cargill, James 
McKeen, James Gregg, and one hundred more, mentioned in a 
list, to them and their Heirs forever, a cert.iin tract of Land, 
bounded as followeth, not exceedlng the . quantity of ten miles 
square : beginning at a pine-tree, marked, which is the south- 
west corner of Chcsheir, and running to the northwest corner of 
the said Cheshire, and from the northwest corner, running upon 
a due west line unto the E.iver Merimack, and down the River 
Merimack, until it meets with the line of Dunstable, and there 
turning eastward upon Dunstable line, untill it meet with the 
line of Dracut, and continuing eastward upon Dracut Line, untill 
it meet with the line of Haverill, and Extending northward upon 
Haverill Line, untill it meet with the line of Cheshire, and then 
turning westward upon the said Line of Cheshire, unto the pine- 
tree first mentioned, where it began. In witness whereof, I have 
hereunto set my hand and seal, this twentyeth Day of October, 
one thousand seven hundred and nineteen. 

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered 
in the Prcsencc of 
Daniel Dupee, John Wheelwright. [l. s.] 

John Hirst, 

Suffolk, SS. Boston, October ye 20th, 1719. 

John Wheelwright, Esqr., personaly appearing, acknowledged 
the above Instrument to be his volluntary act and Deed. 

Cor. Wm. Welsteed, Just. Peace. 



Provence of ) 
ire. j 



Newhampsliire. j Entered and rccorded in the llth Book of 
the said Records, Page 138-139, this 24th of October, 1719. 

Pr. Saml. Penhallow, Recorder. 



COPY OF THE CHARTER OF LONDONDERRY. 

George, By the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, 
and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. 

To all people, to whom these presents shall come — GredTing. 



APPENDIX. 323 

Know ye that we, of our especial knowledge and mere 
motion "for the due encoiiragement of settling New plantations, 
By and with the advice aiid consent of our council, have Given 
and Granted, and by these presents, as far as in us lies, do Give 
and Grant, in equal shares, unto sundry of our beloved subjects, 
whose names are entered into a schedule hereunto annexed, that 
inhabit, or shall inhabit, within th§ said grant, within our Province 
of New Hampshire, all that Traet of Land within the folio wing 
bounds, being ten miles square, or so much as amounts to ten 
miles square, and no more : Beginning on the northeast angie at 
a beach Tree, marked, which is the southeast angle of Chester, 
and running from thence due south, on Kingston line four miles 
and a half; and from thence on a west line, one mile and three 
quarters ; and from thence south, six miles and a half; and from 
thence west-northwest, nine miles and a half; and from thence 
north, eleven miles and a half; from thence north-northeast, three 
miles ; from thence east-southeast, one mile ; and from thence 
south-southwest, to the south w'est angle of Chester; and from 
thence, on an east-southeast line, bounding on Chester, ten miles, 
unto the Beach tree first mentioned ; and that the same be a 
to"^vn corporate by the name of Londonderry, to the persons 
aforesaid forever, Provided, nevertheless, and the true intent and 
meaning of these presents is, anything to the contrary, notwith- 
standing, that nothing in this, our said Grant, shall extend to, or 
be understood to extend, to defeat, prejudice, or make null and 
void any Claim, Title, or Pretence wliich our Province of the 
Massachusetts Bay may have to all or any part of the premises 
Granted as aforesaid, or the Right, claim, property, or Demand of 
any private person or persons, by reason or means of all or any 
part of the said Granted Premises falling within the line or 
bounc '-les of our said province of the Massachusetts. To have 
and to lx d the said lands to the Grantees, their heirs and assigns 
forever, upon the folio wing conditions, namely : — • 

First, That the Proprietors of every share bull^ a dwelling- 
house within three years, and settle a family therein, and break 
up three acres of ground, and plant or sow the same within four 
years, and pay his or their proportion of the town charges, wlien 
and so often as occasion shall require the same. 

Secondly: That a meeting-house shall bc built within four 
years. 

Thirdly : That, upon default of any particular proprietor in 
complying with the conditions of this Charter on- his part, such 
delinquent Proprietor shall forfeit his share to the other Propri- 



324 niSTORY OF londonderry. 

ctors, to be dlsposed of by vote of the major part of tlie proprl- 
etors, and in case of an Indian war within the said four years, the 
said grantees shall have four years more, after the said war is 
ended, for the performance of these conditions. 

Fourtlily : The said men and Inhabitants also rendering and 
paying for the same, to us, our successors, or to such Officer or 
Officers as shall be appointcd to receive the same, the Annual 
quitrent or acknowlcdgment of one peck of potatoes, on the 
first day of October, yearly, forever. Reserving also unto us, 
our heirs and successors, all mast-trees growing on said tract of 
Land, and according to the acts of Parlianient in that behalf 
made and provided ; and for the better order, rule, and govern- , 
ment of the said Town, we do, by these presents, Grant for us, 
our heirs and successors, unto the said Grantees, that yearly and 
every year, upon the fifth day of March, forever, except on the 
Lord's day, and then on the Monday next following, they shall 
meet, elect, and choose, by the major part of the Electors present, 
all Town Officers, according to the usage of the other towns 
within our said provinces, for the year ensuing, with such powers, 
privileges, and authorities as other town officers in our provinces 
aforesaid do enjoy. As also, that on every Wednesday in the 
week, forever, they may hold, keep, and enjoy a market, for the 
selling and buying goods, wares, merchandize, and all kinds of 
creatures, endowcd with the usual privileges, profits, and Immuni- 
ties as other market-towns usually hold, possess, and enjoy ; and 
two fairs annually, forever ; the first to be held or kept within 
the said Town, on the eiglith day of October next, and so de anno 
in annum, forever, and the other on the eighth of May, in like 
manner ; provided, that if it should so happen, that at any time 
either of those fall on the Lord's day, then the said fair shall be 
held and kept the day following, and that the said fair shall have, 
hold, and possess the Liberty, Privileges, and Immunities that 
other fairs in^jither Towns usually possess, hold, and enjoy. In 
witness wliereof, we have caused the seal of our said Province to 
be hereunto ai^xed. 

Witness, Samuel Siiute, Esq., Our Governor and Com- 
mander-in-chief of our said Province, the twenty-first day of June, 
Anno Domini 1722, in the eighth year of our reign. 

By advice of the Council. Samuel Shute. 

RiciiARD Waldkon, Clerk Council. 



APPENDIX. 



325 



V 



The Schedule of the names of the Proprletors of Londonderry. 

Shares, Shares. 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 



X 



Jolin Moor, 
Robert Wilson, 
Samuel Moor, 
James and John Doak, 

ohn Arcliibald, 

Henry Green, 1 

Abel Merrei, 1 

Handel Alexander, 1 

Robert Doak, 1 

Alexander Walker, 1 

John Clark, 1 
James Anderson, 
James Alexander, 

James Morison, - 1 

John Mtchel, 1 

Archibald Clendinen, 1 

John Barnett, 1 
James McKeen and son, 

Jona. Ta} lor, 1 

Alexander Niehols, 1 

William Hmnphra, 1 

John Barnet and sons, 2 
Da\id Craig and W. Gilmore, 2 

John Stewart, 1 

Thomas Steell, 1 

Samuel Allison, 1 

Robert Weir, 1 

John Morison, 1 

Allen Anderson, 1 
Mr. MacGregore and sons, 3 

James Nesmith, 1 

James Clark, 1 

William Gregg, 1 

John Gregg, 1 

James Gregg and sons, 2 

David Cargil, Jr., 1 

Robert McKeen, 1 

Janet, John, and ) - 
$amuel McKeen, ƒ 
Alexander McMurphy and ) -• 
James Liggit, f ^ 
28 



William Cochran, 
WiUiam WUlson and ) 
John Richey, j 

William Thompson, 
Hugh Montgomery, 
Robert Morison, 
Alexander McNeal, 
Robert Boyes, 
John McMurjDhy, 
John McNeal, 
William Campbell, 
Capt. David Cargile, 
John Archibald, Jr., 
James McNeal, 
Daniël McDuffee, 
Samuel Huston, 
Col. John Wlieelwright, 
2 I Edward Proctor, 
Benjamin Kidder, 
John Gray, 
Josepli Kider, 
John GoiFe, 
Samuel Graves, 
John Crombie, 
Matthew Clark, 
James Lindsey, 
James Lesly, 
John Anderson, 
James Blair, 
John Blair, 
James Moor, 
John Sheales, 
James Rogers, 
Joseph Simonds, 
EHas Kays, 
John Robey, 
John Senter, 
John Goffe, Jr., 
Stei)hen Perce, 
Andrew Spauiden, 
David Bogle, 



326 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



John, Peter, and \ 
Andrew Cochran, ) 
Samuel Gregg, Samuel 
Graves, and Robert Boyes 
James Ailvcn, 
William Aiken, 
Edward Aiken, 
Jolin Wallace, 
Benjamin Willson, 
Andrew Todd, 
John Bell, 
Da^dd Moiison, 
Samuel Morison, 
Abram Holmes, 
John Given, 
William Eayers, 
Thomas Bogle, 
Ehzabeth Willson and ) 
Mary, her daughter, ƒ 



Sliaics. 
1 I 



} 



Samuel Graves, Jr., 

Mr. James McGregore, ) 

for a servant,. ) 

Gapt. Cargile, for ) 

2 servants, } 

George Clark, 

Thomas Clark, 

Nehemiah Giffen, 

James McGlauglilin, 

Parsonage lot, 

John Barnett, Jr., 

John McConoeighy, 

John McClurg, 

John Woodburn, 

Bening Wentworth, 

Richard Waldren, 

Lieut. Govemor Wentworth, 

Robert Amistrong, 

Robert Actmuty, 



Shares. 
1 



i 
i 



Whole number, 124j 

Memorandum over and above what is already given in the 
Schedule, are added. 







Acres. 




Acres. 


Mr. 


McGregore, 


250 


Mr. James Gregg, 


150 


Mr. 


McKeen, 


250 


John Goffe, 


100 


Mr. 


David Cargil, 


100 







And to the two lots last mentioned, viz. Gregg and Goffe, a 
mill-stream within the said Town, for their good services in pro- 
moting the settlement of the Town. 

Richard Waldron, Clerk Council. 

New Hampshire, June 21, 1792. 

Admitted Proprietors and Commoners in the Town of London- 
derry, with the persons mentioned in this Schedule, His Excel- 
lency, Governor Shute a home-lot and 500 acres, His Honor, 
Lieut. Governor Wentworth a home-lot and share 300 acres. 

Richard Wiberd, . 1 share 

Thos. AVestbrook, 1 " 

Thomas Parker, 1 " 

Archibld. McPhetrick, 1 " 

Richard Waldron, Clerk to Council. 



Samuel Penhallow, 


1 share 


Mark Hunken, 


1 " 


George Jeffries, 


1 " 


Shadrac Walton, 


1 " 



APPENDIX. 327 



JUSTICE M'KEEN'S COMMISSION. 

A copy of the commission of James McKeen, Esq., a Justice 
of tlie Peace, in Londondeny ; the original being now (1850) in 
a good state of preservation, in the hands of his great-grandson, 
Rev. Silas McKeen, of Bradford, Vt. 

George, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and 
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc, — to our trusty and 
well-beloved James McKeen, Esq., Greeting. Know you that 
We, rejDOsing mueh confidence in your loyalty, skill, and ability, 
have constituted, ordained, and made, and by these presents do 
constitnte and appoint you to be one of our Justices of the Peace, 
within our Province of New Hampshire, in America ; hereby 
■willing and requiring you to keep, and causê to be kept, all ordi- 
nances and statutes made for the promotion of peace, and conser- 
vation of t^e same, and for the quiet rule and government of Our 
people, in all and every the articles thereof, in Our said Prov- 
ince, according to the form and effect of the same ; fuUy to act, 
perform, and do all, and whatsoever to the Justice of the Peace 
(within the said Province) doth appertain, according to the laws 
that now are, or may be, in forcc within "the same. 

In witness whereof, we have caused the seal of Our said 
Province to be hereunto affixed. 

Witness, Samuel Shute, Esqr., Our Captain, General, and 
Governor in Chief, in and over Our said Province of N. 
Hamp., at Portsmouth, the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the 
sixth year of Our reign. Anno Domini 1720. 

[l. s.] Saml. Shute. 



COPY OF AN EARLY PARISH TAX-LIST. 

Province of 7 To Alexander Mc Collom, old parish Con- 
New Hampshire. > stable, in Londonderry, in said province, to 

[l. s.] Colect the Minister's sallary on the west side 

of Bevor Brook, in said town. Greeting. 

You are hereby Requaired in his Maj'tes Name to Collect the 
following sums, as they are anexed to each man's Name in this 
List ; they being the inhabitance of the old parish in London- 
derry, afforesaid. And the said sums, so Collected, you are to 
pay to us the subscribers, or our Order, at or befbre the tenth 



328 



HISTORY OP LONDONDERRT. 



Day of January ncxt Ensulng, in Order to pay the Rev'd Wil- 
liarn Davidson bis sallary for his Labors Amongst iis, in the year 
1750. And If any person shall Neglect or Kefuse PajTnent of 
the snm or sums on him or them so assescd or apploted, You 
are to Make Distress upon all such as the Law Dircets ; and for 
Tvant of Good or Chattels whereon to Distrain, You are to size 
the Body, and Commite hun or them to the Common Goile, of said 
province, there to Remain nntill he or they shall pay the sum or 
sums on him or them so assesed or apploted, And this shall be 
your Sufficiënt Warrant. Given under Our hands and seal, at 
Londonderry, this ninth Day of November, and in the twenty- 
foarth year of his Reaign. Anno Domi. 1 750. 

John Cromey, 1 

John Barnett, 

Alex'r Kelsey, j- Selectmen. 

Samuel Morrison, 

robt. cochran, j 





£. 


3. 


d. 




£ 


3. 


d. 


John Ramsey, 


2 


14 


1 


John Brown, 


2 


12 




James Ramsey, 


2 


17 


5 


Joseph Wallace, 


2 


12 




Wed'w Calderwood, 


2 


17 


5 


WiUiam Eyars, 


4 


19 


8 


Robt. Clark, 


5 


14 


9 


James Cochran, 


2 


7 


10 


Robt. Wallace, 


4 


3 


2 


Nethaniel. Holms, 


2 


7 


10 


Benj. Willson, 


3 


8 


9 


WiUiam Marten, 


1 


6 


10 


Capt. Andrew Todd, 


1 


8 


8 


Wed*w Willson, 


2 


5 


10 


John Wallace, 


2 


9 


8 


Joseph Bell, 


2 


2 




John Barnet, 


2 


17 


4 


Nenion Cochran, 


3 


12 


7 


Cor. James Willson, 


2 


17 


5 


Peter Cochran, 


2 




2 


Capt. Andrew Todd, 


5 


14 


9 


WilHam Cochran, 


2 




2 


David Morison, 


5 


8 


1 


Thos. Willson, 


2 


13 


5 


Joseph Cochran, 


5 


14 


9 


Sam'1 Mller, 


2 


18 


5 


Will'mBetty, 


1 


2 




Dn. John INIoore, 


5 


3 


2 


Thos. Wallace, 


5 


8 


11 


for his Negrow, 




5 





Thos. Cochran, 


5 


8 


11 


Dn. Patrick Douglass 


5 


6 


10 


John Cromey, 


4 


15 


6 


for his Negrow, 




5 





John Maclurge, 


1 


15 


10 


Sam'1 Morison, 


5 


14 


9 


James Wallace, 


1 


15 


10 


Robt. Craigo, 


5 


14 


9 


John Barret, 


1 


1 




James Morrow, 


2 


17 


5 


Will'm Edison, 


1 


1 




Thos. Macleary, 


2 


17 


5 


James Doack, 


3 


12 


7 


Abraham Holms, 


2 


17 


5 


Wed'w Woodburn, 


2 




2 


John Holms, 


2 


17 


5 


Matthew Wright, 


2 


11 


7 


Halbert Morison, 


2 


17 


5 







APPENDIX. 




£j 


2y 




£ 


S-, 


d. 




£ 


s. 


d. 


Sam'1 Dlckey, 


2 


17 


5 


Robt. Petterson ) 
and bis motber, ) 


1 


2 




Peter Petterson, 


2 


17 


5 




Jolin Maclurge, 


5 


14 


9 


William White, 


2 


4 




Hugli Young, 


3 


7 


3 


James Boys, 


1 


10 




Sam'1 Fislier, 


1 


13 


8 


Sam'1 Boys, 




14 




Wed'w Hogg, • 


1 


13 


8 


Christephor Eyars, 


1 


5 


6 


James Caldwell, 


3 


7 


3 


Cur. James Willson's 








Alex'r Macolam, 


3 


7 


3 


sons, 


1 


5 


6 


William Macnlell, 


3 


7 


3 


Alex'r Craige, 




12 


9 


Joseph Boys, 


2 


4 




John Morison, 




12 


9 


James Oiigliterson, 


1 


2 




Alex'r Macmurphy, 




12 


9 


Robt. Kenady, 


1 


2 




John Cox, 




12 




William Cox, 




11 




John Wallace, 




16 




Edward Cox, 




11 




John Rowside, 




12 


9 


Charls Cox, 


1 


2 




Robt. Livingstone, 




12 


9 


Joseph Cox, 


1 


2 




Edward Aiken, 




12 


9 


Wed'w Macalester, 


1 


2 




James Aughenbowl, 




14 




Will'm Macalester, 


1 


10 




Hugh Campbell, 




16 


2 


James King, 




14 




Edward Presbery, 




7 


5 


Litle Sam'1 Morison, 


2 


4 




Thos. Grahams, 

2 




8 


4 




06 


11 


3 



MEMORIAL OF MATTHEW THORNTON AND OTHERS TO THE 

GENERAL COURT. 

To His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., Captain, Gen- 
eral, Governor, and Commander in Chief in and over his 
Majesty's Province of New Hampsliire, the Honourable, his 
Majesty's Council and House of Representatives. 

We, the subscribers, Freeholders and Inhabitants in London- 
derry, and Province aforesaid, humbly beg leave to return our 
sincere and hearty thanks for the late gracious Act, in which it 
is Stipulated that Londonderry aforesaid shall have no more than 
three Taverns and two Retailers, for the present and four Ensu- 
ing years, and we had rather the number were diminished than 
increased. 

Londonderry, Sept. 26th, Annoque Domini 1758. 



Matthew Thornton, 
William Wallace, 
WilHam Cox, 



Charles Cox, 

John Macartney, (?) 

William Cochran, 



28* 



330 



mSTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 



Jolm Cocliran, 
Peter Cocliran, 
Robert Cochran, 
Ninian Cochran, 
Jolm Wallace, 
Nathaniel Aiken, 
Hugh Young, 
Randal Alexander, 
James Anderson, 
David Anderson, 
Samuel Moore, 
Alex'r W. Nutt, 
Thomas Grier, 
John Durham, 
Robert Moore, 
John Hunkin, 
Thomas Wilson, 
James Willson, 
James Willson, 
Moses Barnett, 
James Aiken, 
Samuel ]\ülls, 
John Barnett, 
Robert Barnett, 
Samuel Alison, 
Samuel Alison, Jr, 
David Steel, 
Thomas Creaj;e, 
David Craige, 
Samuel Morrison, 
Matthew Taylor, 
John Hogg, 
John Mtchell, 



Samuel Rankin, 
James Paul, 
William Rankin, 
John Steel, 
Samuel Steel, 
Jno Wiear, 
John McKeen, 
Ephraim Marsh, 
James Thompson, 
Hugh Thompson, 
William Humphrey, 
William On-, 
John Moor, 
Hugh Montgomery, 
Da\'id Montgomery, 
Robert Morison, 
Robert MacMurphy, 
Samuel Houston, 
James Houston, 
Daniel Leslie, 
Wüham Taylor, 
Robert Patterson, 
William Eayres, 
John Moor, 
Robert Moor, 
James Caldwell, 
Patrick Douglass, 
Alex'r Rankin, 
Daniel McDuffee, 
Robert Adams, 
James McGregore, 
John Taylor. 



ASSOCIATION TEST. 

In April 17 7G, in accordanee with a recommendation of the 
Continental Congress, circulars wei»e* sent, by the Committee cf 
Safety of New Hampshirc, to the Selectmen of the several towns 
m the State, requesting them to procure the signatures of all the 
males in the town, over twenty-one years of age, (with certain 
exceptions,) to the declaration contai'ned in the circular, and to 



APPENDIX. 331 

report the names of all who shoiild rcfuse to slgn. The foUowing 
is a copy óf the circular sent to the Selectmen of Londonderry, 
of the names of those who signed, and of those who refused to 
sign it. 

To the Selectmen and Committee of Londondeny, Colony of 
New Hampshire. 

In Committee of Safety. 

April 12th, 1776. 
In order to carry the underwritten resolves of the Hon'ble 
Continental Congress into execution, You ar« requested to desire 
all males above Twenty-One years of agc, (Lunaticks, Idiots, and 
Negroes excepted^) to sign to the declaration on this paper ; and 
wHen so done, to make return hereof, together with the name or 
names of all who shall refuse to sign the same, to the General 
Assembly, or Committee of Safety of this Colony. 

M. Weare, Chairman. 

In Congress, March 14th, 1776. 

Resolved, that it be recommended to the several assembUes, 
Conventions, and Couneils, or Committees of Safety, of the United 
Colonies, immediately to cause all persons to be disarmed within 
their Respective Colonies, who are notoriously disaffected to the 
cause of America, or who have not associated, and refuse to asso- 
ciate, to defend by arms, the United Colonies against the hostile 
attempts of the British fleets and armies. 

(Copy) ^. Extract from the Minutes, 

Charles Thompson, Sec'ry. 

In consequence of the above resolution of the Hon. Conti- 
nental Congress, and to shew our determination in joining our 
American brethren in defending the Lives, Liberties, Properties 
of the Inhabitants of the United Colonies : — 

We, the Subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise, 
that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the Risque of our 
Lives and Fortunes, with arms, oppose the Hostile proceedings 
óf the British Fleets and Armies, against the United American 
Colonies. 

Matthew Thornton, • WUliam Alexander, 

Joseph Gregg, Isaac Peabody, 

George Duncan, Junr., McGregore, 

'■ John Gregg, Daniel Reynolds, 

Benjamin Gregg, George Russel, 



332 



niSTORY OP LONDONDERRY, 



John Moor, 
John Aiken, 
Thomas Taggart, 
John Nesniith, 
Jaines Cochran, Junr., 
James INIcGregore, 
John Bailey, 
John Gilmore, 
Robt. McNeil, 
Arthur Archibald, 
WiUiam Kelly, 
William Gregg, 
Hugh Montgomery, 
John Pinkerton, 
Moses Lankester, 
Benjamin Cheney, 
David Clendinin, 
James Paul, 
John Cochran, 
Robert Willson, 
Timothy Faren, 
Stephen Holland, 
WilUam Yance, 
Nathan Stinson, 
Da\dd Craige, 
John Prentice, 
James Cochran, 
James Alexander, 
Matthew MUer, 
Moses Barnet, 
John Yance, 
Alex'dr. Mc Collom, 
Adam AViar, 
Robcrt AValton, 
Thomas McCleary, 
Eobert Macordy, 
John Robinson, 
John Patten, 
Saml. Dickey, 
James Wallace, 
John Holmes, 
Alex'r. Crage, 
Robt. Gilmore, 



Andrew Clendinin, 

Thomas Willson, 

Samuel Morison, 
' John Steel, 

James Nicliols, 

John (?) Morison, 

Thomas Patterson, 

Robert Holmes, 

Adam Dunlap, 

William Davidson, 

Robt. Moor, 

Robt. Smith, 

David Anderson, 
'- Samuel Grègg, 

David Taylor, 

John Hopkins, 

Samuel Marsh, 

Robt. Morrison, 

Jonathan Gillmore, 

Jonathan Kelso, 

George Mansfield, 

John Annis, 

James Humphrey, Junr., 

Robert McFarland, 

John T}-lor, 

Wüliam Tylor, 

John Marsl^ 

Wm. Cunningham, 

Thomas Anderson, 

Thomas Creage, 

Matthew Clark, 

Isaac Brewster, 

John Barnet, 

John Hiland, 

John Barnet, Junr., 

James Anderson, 

John Gunion, 

Adam Taylor, 

Samuel Taylor, 

John Bell, 

Wm. Duncan, 

Abraham Duncan, 

John Cox, 



APPENDIX. 



333 



Robert Monson, 
John Creaig, 
James Taggart, 
Samuel Anderson, 
James Adams, 
James Nesmith, 
Robert Adams, 
Arcliibald Mack, 
James Nesmitli, Junr., 
James Miltimore, 
Samuel Clark, 
James Ewing, 
James Donaldson, 
William Rogers, 
David McKeen, 
John Wallace, 
Da^dd Paul, 
Samuel Ghrims, 
Saml. Wilson, 
James Dinsmoor, 
Samuel Gregg, 
Jolm McKeen, 
George Duncan, 
Samuel Fisher, 
John Duncau, 
James Anderson, 
Jas. Hopkins, 
Robt. Archibald, 
John Hunter, 
James IMiltimore, 
Jonathan Wallace, 
David Hnkerton, 
James Adams, Junr., 
Thomas Rogers, 
James Anderson, 
William Anderson, 
Joseph Mack, 
Josiah Duncan, 
" Robert Craige, 
John McAlester, 
Thomas Holmes, 
Da^-id McCleary, 
Ephraim Dunond, 



John Anderson, 

John Patterson, 

Alexander Boyd, 

Thos. Wallace, Junr., 

James Barnett, 
JJóhn McClurg, 

Samuel Morison, Junr., 

Robert Dickey, 

Joseph Chapman, 

Ehas Smith, 

John IMarshall, 

Humphrey Holt, 
' Andrew Mack, 

Archibald McAlester, 

Andrew Todd, 

Robert Thompson, 

John Thompson, 

Isaac Walker, 

Saml. Thompson, 

Andrew Todd, 

Robert McColom, 

David Brewster, 

James Adams, 

James McMurphy, 

James Alexander, 

John Mcintosh, 

Robt. INIcMurphy, Junr., 

Samuel Monson, 

]\Iatthew Pinkerton, 

Samuel Alls, 

Alexander Craig, 

Hugh Watt, 

Archibald McMurphy, 

Jedediah Patee, 

Samuel WiUson, 

James Willson, 

Adam Dickey, 

John Dickey, 

George Corning, 

James Boyes, 

Samuel White, 

George Mc Allaster, 
-—Matthew Dickey, 



334 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



Robcrt McLiiere, 
John Kerr, 
Saml. Wallace, 
John Giles, 
Robert Boyes, 
James Thompson, 
Thomas McCleary, 
Jacob Chase, 
William Page, 
Nathl. Smith, 
Joseph Bell, 
James Cochran, 
John McAdams, 
John McClenehe, 
Samuel Boys, 
Josej^h Boys, 
Moses Watt, 
Joseph Hogg, 
John Watts, 
Thomas Hilands, 
James Lyons, 
James Hoofgr, 
Francis Mitchell, 
Wm. Johnston, 
Hiigh Kattey, 
Peter Kattey, 
Bobt. Clendinin, 
William Wier, 
Nicholas Dodge, 
John Dwinell, 
Henry Campbell, 
David Porter, 
Thomas Wallace, 
James AVallace, 
George MclNlurphy, 
William Wallace, 
Joseph Cochran, 
Samuel Bankin, 
William Rankin, 
James Ramsey, 
John Ilunter, 
Daniel Hunter, 
Thomas Wilson, 



Jesse Plunier, 
Nathaniel Brown, 
Jonathan Adams, 
John Clark, 
William Eayrs, 
John Ramsey, 
William Ramsey, 
William Cochran, 
John Ramsey, 
James Ciombie, 
John Crombie, 
Thomas Lennan, 
Simeon Roberson, 
Eleazer Cumings, 
Ebenezer Tarbox, 
Samuel Eayrs, 
Reuben Page, 
Jonathan Reed, 
Joseph Finlay, 
John Clark, 
Samuel Thompson, 
Josiah Jon es, 
Joseph Curtice, 
Thomas Senter, 
William Richardson, 
William Alexander, 
James Darrah, 
Ezekiel Gaile, 
Nathaniel Hale, 
Daniel Mari^liall, 
Benjamin Kidder, 
Joseph Hobbs, 
Elijah Towns, 
Stephen Dwinell, 
William Moor, 
James Town, 
John March, 
Samuel Senter, 

? James "Greijg, 
William Boyd, 
Abel Plummer, 
Joshua Conet (?) 

-^William Dickey, 



APPENDIX. 



335 



Samuel Karr, 
William Eayers, 

Samuel McAclams, 
--William Dickey, 

Thomas Boycl, 

Peter Robinson, 

WiUiam Steel, 

William McAdams, 

Robert INIcAclams, 

John Kobinson, 

Da\acl Peabody, 

Joseph Steel, 

George Biirroiighs, 

Isaac Page, 

Philip Marston, 

David Lawrence, 

Richard ISIarshall, 

Samson Kidder, 

James Barret, 

John Smith, 
Josiah Burroughs, 

WiUiam Burroughs, 

Moses Barret, 
Dayid Campbell, 
William How, 
William Grimes, 
Robert Anderson, 
Samuel Cochran, 
Samuel Miller, 
John Duncan, 
John Jaques, 
John Pinkerton, 
Trueworthy TSargent, 
Jesse Annis, 
Tliomas Perrin, 
Thomas Melcher, 
Robert Cochran, 
Joseph Morison, 
Arthur Boyd, 
Da\id Conelly, 
Parker Moores, 
John Stewart, 
Thomas Stewart, 



Alexander Robinson, 
Robert McKeen, 
George Orr, 
Simeon Merrill, 
Mos^s Rowell, 
Barnes Morrill, 
James Cheney, 
David Davison, 
Alexander Kassay, 
David Colbey, 
Daniel Cheney, 
Charles Sargent, 
John Kinkead, 
Abraham Page, 
Stephen Johnson, 
William Grey, 
Samuel Dodge, 
WilHam Parkinson, 
Alexander Campbell, 
Denis Healey, 
Robert Wallacé, 
Denis Plunmier, 
James IVIiller, 
John Stinson, 
John KaïT, 
Robert Hunter, 
James Macgregore, 
James Litch, 
John Archibald, 
George Moor, 
William Morison, 
William Gilmore, 
William Smith, 
John Livingston, 
Daniel McDuffee, 
Jacob Bartlett, 
George Davidson, 
David Colby, 
Alex'r Clark, 
Wm. Parker, 
Daniel McNeill, 
James Yance, 
Robert Boyd, 



336 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

Robert Boyd, Jun'r, James Willson, 

Jacob Fowle, James Eayres, 

Jolm Wadlle, John McDuifee, 

Jolin Alcxander, Joliii Moore, 

Ricliard Emerson, Samuel White, 

William INIiltimore, Hngh Danshe, 

Robert Hopklns, John Humphrey, 

John Nesmith, Samuel AlHson, 

o George Gregg, Thomas Cristy, 

Isaac Cochran, Robert McMurphy. 

Londonderry, June ye 24th, 1776. 

To the Hon'ble House of Representatlves for the Collony New 

Hampshire, 
Agi'eable to the request of the Hon'ble Committee of Safety 
for the Colony, we have taken pains to go through with the asso- 
ciation papper, and we find none who refuses to slgn the same ex- 
cept the persons hereafter mentioned, vlz., Timothy Dawson, 
Alexander Nicols, Joseph Morison, Abraham Morison, William 
Humphrey, David Morison, Samuel Ella, Doet. George Wood, 
John Holmes, Lieut. to a minute company, John Reed, John 
Moor, Robert Moor, James Cochran, Samuel Clark, John Stewart. 
By order of the Selectmen, 

Thos. Taggart, Select Clerk. 



LIST OF THE SOLDIERS FROM LONDONDERRY, IN THE ARMY 
OF THE REVOLUTION, FROM 1775 TO 1783. 

In presenting the names of the soldiers of the Revolution from 
Londonderry, it is deemed preferable to give, so far as it can 
conveniently be done, distinct lists of those enrollcd in the various 
enlistments made in tlie town, rather than one list of all those who 
served at any time during the war. This course, however, neces- 
sarily causes occasional repetition of names. Notwithstanding 
much pains lias been taken to obtain complete lists, they are, in 
two or tliree instances, defective. 

Soon after the news of the battle of Lexington had been re- 
ceived, Captain George Rcid marehed with a company of nearly 
a hundred men from Londonderry, and joined the American 
forces at Mcdford. The following is a list of the officers and 
privates composing this company, as it was on the twenty-eighth 
of July, 1775. 



APPENDIX. 337 

George Reid, captain ; Abraliam Reid, lieutenant ; James An- 
derson, second lieutenant ; John Patten, qnartermaster sergeant ; 
Daniel IMiltimore, John Nesmith, Robert Barnet, John Mackey, 
sergeants; James McCluer, Robert Boyes, Joshua Thompson, 
George McMurphy, corporals ; Robert Burke, drummer ; Thomas 
Ingliss, fifer ; Matthew Andersou, Robert Adams, Samuel Ayers, 
Hugh Alexander, John Anderson, Alexander Brown, Wilham 
Boyd, John Campbell, Thomas Campbell, Peter Chnstie, Solomon 
Colhns, Stephen Chase, William Clyde,* William Dickey, James 
Duncan, ^ Samuel Dickey, John Ferguson, David Gregg, James 
Gilmore, Allen Hopkins, John Head, Asa Senter, John Hopkins, 
Samuel Houston, Jonathan Holmes, Peter Jenkins, John Living- 
ston, Ebenezer Mcllvain, Hugh Montgomery, Jolin Morrison, 
James Morrison, Joseph Mack, Martin Montgomery, Robert Mc- 
Murphy, William McMurphy, William Moore, Robert Mack, 
David McClary, Archibald Mack, James Nesmith, James Nes- 
mith, Jr., William Parker, Joshua Reid, WiUiam Rowell, Thomas 
Roach, Abel Senter, James Stinson, Samuel Senter, Samuel 
Thompson, John Vance, Hugh Watts, Thomas Wilson, John Pat- 
terson, Henry Parkinson, Samuel Stinson, John Smith, Richard 
Cressey, James Moore, privates. Whiole number, seventy-two. 

It appears from the accounts for town bounties, in the office of 
the Secretary of State, that Londonderry paid bounties for ninety- 
nine men, who volunteered on the " Lexington alaim." There 
were, therefore, twenty-seven others from Londonderry, in the 
service, at this time, whose names, with the exception of David 
MacGregor, William Gregg, and William Adams, are not known. 

In August, 1776, a company of eighty men was raised for the 
Canada service, from Col. Matthew Thornton's regiment, which 
comprised the towns of Londonderry, Windham, and Pelham, and 
from Col. Josiah Bartletf s regiment, which comprised the towns 
of Kingston, East Kingston, Hawke, Sandown, Newtown, Hamp- 
stead, Plaistow, Atkinson, and Salem. This company was com- 
manded by Captain John Nesmith, and formed a part of Colonel 
Wingate's reoiment. The followino; are the names of those 
members of this company who are believed to have belonged to 
Londonderry : — 

John Nesmith, captain ; Alexander Graham, second lieutenant ; 
Samuel Cherry, ensign ; Solomon Todd, sergeant ; William Dickey, 
corporal ; Michael George, drummer ; Timothy Dustin, fifer ; 
John McClurg, Samuel Thompson, Matthew Anderson, John 
Anderson, William Rogers, Robert McCluer, James Ewins, 
James Boyes, Jr., John Orr, Samuel Rowell, John Humphrey, 

29 



338 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

John Cox, Edward Cox, John Anderson, Jr., Thomas White, 
Ephraim White, Joscph Mack, James Moor, Samuel Eayres, John 
Vance, John llamsey, David George, %William Dickey, Jona. 
Gregg, Hngh Alexander, Abner Andrews, Peter Jenkins, Alex- 
ander Craige, William Colby, Patrick Fling, William Adams, 
James Boyes, Jr., Jona. George, Allen Ilopkins, James Gil- 
more, Charity Killicut, John Lancaster, privates. 

In December, 1776, the following enlistment was made in Lon- 
donderry, fbr three months in the Continental service, in Captain 
Samuel McConnel's company, in Col. David Gilman's regiment. 

James Hopkins, lieutenant ; Jonathan Wallace, sergeant ; Hugh 
Watt, corporal ; William Lyons, Moses Watt, Thomas McClary, 
Jesse Jones, James Nesmith, Arthnr Nesmith, John Todd, Ben- 
jamin Nesmith, James Hobbs, Nathan Whiting, Benjamin Robin- 
son, David Marshall, William Burroughs, James Gilmore, John 
Kinkead, Alexander Morrow. 

The foUoAving are the names of the men from Londonderry," 
who enlisted in the years 1777 and 1778, for the continental ser- 
vice, for three yeare, or during the war : — 

Peter Jenkins, Joseph Mack, Samuel Walton, Nathaniel Plum- 
mer,* William Dickey, Bishop Castor, John Obrian, George Me- 
Murphy, David Plummer, Abel Walton, James Campbell, John 
McMurphy, Robert Wilson, Joseph McFarland, Samuel Ayers, 
Robert Rogers,- Solomon Todd, Frederick Roche, Charles Bryan, 
James Nesmith, William Johnson, John Erwin, Jeremiah Fair- 
field, John Ayres, John Martin, John Morgan, David George, 
* David Dickey, Ebenezer Mcllvane, Timothy Harrington, Robert 
Boyes, Thomas Holmes, Martin Montgomery, Zacheus Dustin, 
Valentine Sargent, Robert Craige, John Head, James Boyes, John 
Allen, Alexander McMasters, Abel Whiting, Ambrose Vicker,* 
John Grear,* Glaude Colombon,* Joseph Coste,* Jean Rots, 
Jonathan George, Michael George, Timothy Hutchins. 

The following names of men from Londonderry, are found in the 
returns of enHstments for three years, or during the war, although 
they do not appear to have received bounties from that tOTrn. 

William Hogg, Samuel Hamilton, David Ela, John Mack, 
Zabulon Colby, William Colby, Castor Barnes. 

July 20, 1,777, a company of seventy volunteers was enlisted 
in Londonderry. It was commanded by Capt. Daniel Reynolds, 
and was in the battle of Bennington. The following is a copy 

* These men were enlisted at Exeter, by Major John Pinkcrton, to 
make up the quota for Col. Thornton's regiment. Their bounties were 
paid by Londonderry. 



APPENDIX. 339 

from tlie roll of the company : Daniel Reynolds, captain ; David 
McClary, Adam Taylor, lieutenants ; John Hughes, ensign ; John 
Smith, John McKeen, John Anderson, John Robinson, sergeants ; 

''Matthew Dickey, David Clark, Simeon Sentcr, Joseph Hastings, 
corporals ; Thomas Griffin, fiter ; John Barr, Nathaniel B urrow s, 
John Robinson, George Eviston, Joseph Sargent, Isaac Colby, 
Alexander Stevens, William Houston. William Fellows, James 
Nesmith, Jonathan Cheney, Samuel Rowell, William Sevrans, 
Jonathan Kelso, John Ferguson, Samuel Thompson, Nathaniel 
Sweetser, Dudley Balley, Johii Campbell, James Huniphr^y, 
James Taylor, Archibald Cunningham, William Burrgjgs, Peter 
Robinson, Mansfield McDufFee, Nathaniel Cheney, James Moore, 
Thomas Carr, Samuel Spear, Samuel Campbell, William Ramsey, 

■T^Robert Morrison, Thomas Wallace, Joshua Conant,- Joseph Cald- 
wellf Adam Dickey, William Adams, Thomas McClary, Hugh 
Watts, Andrew Todd, Thomas Wallace, Jesse Jones, Thomas 
Rogers, Ephraim Gregg, James Morison, John Watts, Allen An- 
derson, David BrcAvster, Jonathan Wallace, John Wallace, John 
Todd, John McClary, Joseph Hobbs, Joseph Steel, Samuel Brown, 
Samuel Taylor, John Stuart, privates. 

October 1, 1777. The folio wing company of volunteers 
marched from Londonderry, under the command of Capt. Joseph 
Finlay, and joined the Northern Continental army at Saratoga. 
Their term of service, however, was short. 

Joseph Finlay, captain ; James Cliristy, lieu tenant ; Robert 
Adams, John Patterson, sergeants ; Jonathan Gilmore, Robert 
Wallace, Adam Dunlap, John McCoy, David Quinten, Samuel 
Gregg, Jonathan Holmes, John Moore, Peter Christy, William 
Hopkins, Joshua Lancaster, W^illiam Moore, John Taylor, Adam 
Johnson, John Adams, William Aiken, David AVilson, Thomas 
Morrison, William Alexander, Samuel Anderson, AVilliam Mc- 
Keen, John Hunter, Moses Walton, John Walton, Samuel Dodge, 
Nathaniel Holmes. 

In the returns of Col. Henry Jackson's regiment, we find the 
foUowing names of men from Londonderry, who enlisted in 1777. 
John Nesmith, lieutenant ; John Vance, sergeant ; John Bryant, 
Timothy Melon, John Mitchel, piivates. 

It appears from the accounts for town bounties, that London- . 
derry paid, in 1778, bounties for twenty volunteers for the Rhode '"^C 
Island service. The names of these volunteers, with the excep-«.7 J^ c 
tion of Joseph McKeen, are not known. In the same year, Jon- ^ ' 

athan Ferrin, Hugh Jameson, and Francis Mitchel, enlisted in Ol 'T <A cv 
the Continental service, for the term of nine months. / . - iPi*^ 



ITOJ, X' p,•^^^(^ 



340 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

In 1779, the following enllstments were made in Londonderry 
for the Continental service : — 

Thomas Rankin, EdAvard Colby, Richard Gillespie, and James 
Campbell, for one year ; and Heniy Weid, Peter Hakins, Robert 
Barber, David Richards, John King, and John White, during the 
war ; and John Ross, Archibald Clark, John McCarty, Isaac 
Colby, Thomas Drew, Neal McGee, and Windsor Golden, for the 
service at Rliode Island. 

In 1 780, the following new levies for the continental army were 
raised in Londonderry : John McCarty, William Thomas, Zoe 
Withe, John Clark, John Remmick, Pomp Sherburne, James 
Whaley, Windsor Golden, James Harris, Thomas Mitchel, Sam- 
uel Merrill, James McMahan, Jeremiah Fairfeld. 

In February, 1781, the following enlistments were made in this 
town : Abner Andrews, Asa Andrews, Jonathan Black, Charles 
Burrows, John Ward, Allen Anderson, Archibald Clark, John 
Webb, Pomp Sherburne, Martin Byrne, James Burke (deserter 
from Burgoyne), James Adams, David Morrison, Jeremiah Fair- 
field, John McCarty, John Pease, Daniel Marsh, James Boyes, 
James Blair. 

In September following, nine were enlisted in Londonderry, 
for three months, and marched under the command of Lieutenant 
Jonathan Adams ; namely,xWilliam Dickey, Thomas McLaughlin, 
> Adam Dickey, William Eastman, Arthur Nesmith, Robert Thomp- 
son, James Gregg, Elijah Towns, Alexander McMurphy. Abra- 
ham Perry and John Mannyfold were also in the service in 1781. 

In 1782, John McCurdy and Charles Cavenaugh enlisted from 
Londonderry. The latter is known to have served during several 
previous campaigns. It may be proper to remark, that although 
the men who have been mentioned as having been enlisted at 
various times in Londonderry, are described in the returns as 
Londonderry men, some few of them may have been citizens of 
other towns, who enlisted and served for Londonderry. In like 
manner several citizens of Londonderry enlisted and served for 
other towns. In 1777, John Hall served for Deerfield, and John 
Reed, for Chichester. In 1779, Daniel Callaghan served for At- 
kinson, and John Moloy, James Keeff, and Thomas Mitchel, 
for Hampton. In 1781, Michael Keeff served for the town of 
Amherst. 

The revolutionary services of Gen. Reid, David MacGregor, 
Robert MacGregor, and others have been mentioned in the body 
of this work. 



APPENDIX. 341 



PETITION OF MEMBERS OF THE WEST PARISH TO TIIE GEN- 
ERAL COURT FOR AN ACT, OBLIGING EACH INHABITANT 
OF LONDONDERRY TO VOTE AND PAY TAXES IN 
THE PARISH IN WHICH HE DWELLS. 

To The Hon'ble Council and House of Representatives For 
the State of New Hampshire in General Assembly Convened at 
Exeter, within and for said State, May 20, a. d. 1778. 

The subscribers, Inhabitants, and freeholders in. the West 
Parish in Londonderry, in The Coimty of Roekingham in said 
State Hiimbly Sheweth. 

That in the year a. t>. 1739, Londond'ry was by an act of the 
Legislature of said State, Divided into Two Parts, Called the East 
and West Parishes, with Liberty for a number not Exceeding 
forty Persons in Each Parish to poll to the Other, and Become 
members of the Parish they did not Dweil in. The 40 in the 
East Parish that Polled to the west, by the Assistance of Those 
in the west That lived near the East line, Obtained a Yote to 
BuUd and did Buüd a Meeting-House in said west Parish Yery 
near the East line, Avhen said Parish then had a Meeting-House, 
near the Center Newly Built & is now Rotten, for want of use. 

As the number of Inhabitants in the West Parish Increased, 
the forty in the East that Poll'd to the west, Multiplied, &'are 
now Become a Muchgreater Number, and by the aforesaid Assist- 
ance, To this Day have Obliged all the Rest of the Inhabitants 
of the West Parish to Travel to the Meeting-House near the East 
line, Excepting Yery lately we have been Allo wed some Preach- 
ing in a third Meeting-House, Built near the Centre of said West 
Parish by subscription. Dureing the Late Rev'nd Mr. David 
Macgregore's Hfe Time, altho we were Yery sensible of the great 
Injustice Done us, Yet Out of Respect to Him, as he lived near 
the Centre of the East Parish, we AUowed Our selves to Bear 
and Forbear. But Now he is Deceased, and yet the 40 in the 
East that Pollcd To the AVest, & their Numerous posterity Ap- 
pear at The west Parish Meetings, and Being Joined as abovesaid 
Yote the preaching where they Please. 

On the 23d of last April, we Obtained a Yote, a Copy whereof 
is Herewith Exhibited ; but well Knowlng that the vote of a town 
Cannot Repeal an act of the Legislature, we Exhibit said Copy 
to shew That the Majority of the Inhabitance of Londond'ry are 
wüling Justice should be Done. 

For The Reasons aforesaid, we Humbly pray your Honors to 
29* 



342 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



Take the Prcmises under Consideration, and Repeal said act by 
Enacting that in all future Time Every Inliabitant in London- 
derry shall Pay his Legal Proportion of the Minister's sallery in 
that parish wherein he Dwels and be for Ever Excluded from 
Voting in any Parish Meeting Except in the Parish wherein he 
Dwells. 

And Your Pettitioners as in Duty Bound will Ever Pray. 



James Wallace, 
Henry Campbel, 
James Anderson, 
John Campbel, 
Andrew Mack, 
David Woodburn, 
^ Robert Dickey, 
Jesse Jones, 
Joseph Curtis, 
Joseph Chapman, 
Isaac Peabody, 
Eleazar Cumins, 
William Richardson, 
Thomas Senter, 
Will'm Alexander, 
Jacob Nickols, 
Joseph Nickols, 
^WiUiam Dickey, 
VMatthew Dickey, 
Adam Dickey, 
John Corning, 
John McAlister, 
Archibald McAlister, 
John Dwinel, 
Joshua Coming, 
Nicholas Dodge, 
David Chiney, 
William Wier, 
Adam Wier, 
Thomas McClary, 
Thomas McClary, Jr., 
George McAlister, 
James Lyons, 
William Lyons, 
Thos. Holmes, 



Thos. Lennan, 
Robert Wallace, 
Josiah Jones, 
Robert Thompson, 
Josiah Jones, Jr., 
John Senter, 
John Clark, 
John McClurg, 
John Thompson, 
Saml Thompson, 
Joseph Harvel, 
Jacob Richardson, 
Stephen Chase, 
Samuel Senter, 
Asa Senter, 
Eben'r Senter, 
Reuben Senter, 
John Woodburn, 
Nathan Plumer, 
James Gregg, 
Jonathan Gregg, 
Ephraim Gregg, 
Robert McClure, 
John March, 
Aaron Senter, 
Elijah Towns, 
John Patterson, 
Ephraim Dimond, 
Isaac Smith, 
Thos. Patterson, 
Peter Patterson, 
Elias Smith, 
Abel Plumer, 
Asa Andrews, 
Samuel Bean, 



APPENDIX. 



343 



Samiiel Graham, 
Saml McAdams, 
James Anderson, Jr., 
John Anderson, 
William Boyd, 
David Boyd, 
John Moor, 
James Moor, 
Wilüam Moor, 
Robert Anderson, 
John Anderson, Jr., 
William Anderson, 
Allen Anderson, 
Alexander Boyd, 
Sam'1 Anderson, 
Sam'l Anderson, Jr., 
Joseph Hogg, 
Simon Kezear, 
Abram Morison, 
James Hogg, 



'Matthew Dickey, 
William Hogg, 
Hugh Watt, 
Saml White, 
Thomas White, 
Robert Willson, 
Robt Boyes, 
John Mc Clenche, 
Samuel Fisher, 
Samuel Fisher, Jr., 
Samnel Karr, 
Thomas Rogers, 
James Rogers, 
Joseph Finlay, 
William Anderson, 
Samuel Boyes, 
John Barnett, 
Jabes Towns, 
Moses Town, 
James Thompson. 



State of ") In the House of Representatives, Novem'r 
New Hampshire j 4th, 1778. 

Upon reading the foregoing Petition, Yoted that the prayer 
thereof be granted, and that the^Petitioners have leave to bring 
in a bill accordingly. 

Sent up for concurrence. 

John Langdon, Speaker. 
In Conncil the same day read and concurred. 

E. Thompson, Sec'y. 



COPY OF ROBERT m'GREGOR'S DEED OF THE COMMON AND 
GRAVEYARD IN THE EAST PARISH. 

To all Christian people to whom these presents shall come 
Greeting, — Know ye yt, I, Robert McGregor, of Londonderry, 
^vithin his maj'ts Prov'e of N. Hampsh'e, In Engi'd for Divers 
good causes & considerations, moving me hereunto, have given, 
grant'd, bargain'd, sold, alien'd, enfeoff'd, convey'd, & confirm'd 
doth by these presents give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, assign, 
make over, & confirm unto ye town of Londonderry afores'd, 
their heirs & Exe'rs, adm'rs & assigns forever, one messuage 



344 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

or tract of land, lying scituate & bclng in Londondcrry afores'd, 
s'd tract of containing by estimatioii three acres & a halfe, 
w'ch land ye meeting stands upon, as also a training green & 
graveyard belonging to ye s'd town of Londonderry, w'ch land 
is Butt'd and Bound'd as followeth ; viz., beginning at a red oak 
tree mark'd standing on ye Soutlierly side of ye highway yt 
leads easterly frora said meetinghouse & standing on ye line of 
Robert Weare's land, thence runing South by mark'd trees, fifty 
rods, and joyning on s'd Weare's land to a stake and stones, thence 
runing a due west line six rods to a stake and stones, thence 
runing by mark'd Norwest & be Nor fifty rods to a stake & 
stones, standing to ye west of ye s'd meetinghouse, thence runing 
East & Bounding on ye afores'd highway, twelve rods to ye 
Red Oak Tree first mention'd, To have & to hold ye s'd 
grant'd & bargain'd premises w'th al ye appurten's, privileges, 
& comodeties to ye same belonging, or in any wise appertain- 
ing to ye s'd Town of Londonderry their heirs & assigns to 
them & their proper use, benefit & behooff forever, & I ye 
said Robert Macgregor for me, my heirs, Exe'rs, & adm'rs, do 
covenant, promise, & grant, to & w'th ye s'd Town of Lon- 
donderry their heirs & assigns, yt before ye ensealing hereof, I 
am ye true sole & lawfuU owner of ye above bargain'd premises, & 
have in my selfe good right, fuU power, & laAvfull authority to 
grant, bargain, sell, convey, & confirm ye same in maner as 
above s'd, & yt ye afores'd Town of Londonderry their heirs 
& assigns, shall & may from time to time & at all times 
forever hereafter, by force & virtue of these presents, lawfully, 
peaceably, & quietly have, hold, use, occupy, possess, & enjoy 
ye s'd Demised premises, w'th ye appurten's, free & clear & 
freely & clearly acquit'd, exonerat'd & Discharg'd of & 
from all & all maner of former or other gifts, grants, bargains, 
sales, incumberances, & extents; furthermore, I ye s'd Robt. 
McGregore for my selfe, my heii's, Exe'rs, & Adm'rs, do cov- 
enant & engage ye above Demis'd premises to ye s'd Town of 
Londonderry their heirs and assigns against ye lawfuU claims or 
demands of any person or persons w'tsoever in by or under me ye 
s'd Robt McGregore, my heirs, Exe'rs, & adm'rs ; In testimony 
of all before written, I have hereunto set my hand & seal this 
12th day of June 1729, & in ye third year of his majes'ts Reign, 
&c. 

Sign'd, Öcal'd, & Del'd "j 

in presencc of ^^ ■» , .^ n -. 

David McGregore, j Kobert McGregor. [seal] 

Jno. McMurphy, J 



APPENDIX. 345 



Suffolk, Boston, July ye 9th, 1729. 
Eobert McGregore appear'd & acknowledged this Instrument 
to be liis act & Deed, before me, 

Sam'1 Checkley, Jus. Peace. 
Entered & Record'd according to ye orig'11, 28th July, 1729. 

per Josh. Pierce, Record'r. 



A LIST OF ALL THE EEPRESENTATIVES EROM LONDONDERRY 
TO THE GENERAL COURT. 

1732-3, John McMurpIiy. 
1734-5, RobertBoyes. 
^1736, James Grecrcr. 

1737, Robert Boyes. 

1738, Hugh WUson. 
1739-40, Robert Boyes. 
1741-2, SamuelBarr. 

1 743-5, inclusive, John Wallace. 
1746-54, " John McMurphy. 
1755-7, " Robert Clark. 
1758-60, « Matthew Thornton. 
1761-7, " SamuelBarr. 
1768-70, " Samuel Livermore. 
1771-5, " Stephen HoUand.* 

1776, John Bell, Moses Barnet. 

1777, John Gilmore, John Pinkerton. 

1778, John McKeen, John Pinkerton. 

1779, Moses Barnet, Samuel Fisher. 

1 780, Daniel Reynolds, John Bell. 

1781-4, inclusive, Daniel Reynolds, Archibald McMurphy. 

1 785, John Prentice, Arcliibald McMurphy. 

1786, Daniel Reynolds, Archibald McMurphy. 

1787, John Prentice, John Pinkerton. 

1 788, Daniel Reynolds, Archibald McMurphy. 
1789-91, inclusive, James Mac Gregor. 

1792, James MacGregor, John Bell. 

1793, John Prentice, John Bell. 



=* Matthew Thornton and James MacGregor wcre members from 
Londonderry, of the ronvcntion whioh met May 17, 1775. Matthew 
Thornton and John Bell werc members of the convention which met 
December 21, 1775, and afterwards rcsolved itself into a House of 
Represcntatives. 



346 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 

1794-5, James Pinkertön, John Prentice. 
1796-7, James Pinkerton, Willlam Choate. 
1798, James Pinkerton, Jolm Prentice. 
1799-1800, Jolin Bell, Jun., John Prentice. 
1801-5, inclusive, James Pinkerton, John Prentice. 
1806-8, " William Adams, John Moor. 
'1809-11, " John Dickey, John Moor. 
1812, John Pinkerton, John Moor. 
1813-14, John Pinkerton, John Nesmith. 

1815, John Pinkerton, John Porter. 

1816, John Fisher, John Nesmith. 
1817-18, John Fisher, John Porter. 
1819-20, John Fisher, Peter Patterson. 

1821, WilHam Adams, James Thom. 

1822, Robert Patterson, John H. Miltimore. 
1823-4, Robert Mack, James Thom. 

1825, Robert Mack, William Choate, James Thom. 

1826, do do do 

1827, Alanson Tucker, J. H. Miltimore, John Porter. 

In Londonderrï/, since the division of the town. 

1828, John Holmes. 

1829, Robert Mack. 

1830-32, inclusive, John N. Anderson. 

1833-4, Hugh Bartley. 

1835-6, William Plummer. 

1837-8, John N. Anderson. 

1839-40, Reuben White. 

1841-2, Robert Boyd, Jr. 

1843-4. Cyrus Nesmith. 

1845, voted not to send. 

1846-7, David Flanders. 

1848-9, James Perkins. 

1850, Francis D. Anderson, Francis Manter. 

In DerrT/, since the division of the town. 

1828, John Porter, Alanson Tucker. 

1829, Alanson Tucker, William Choate, Jr., 

1830, John Porter, Samuel Adams. 

1831, Alanson Tucker, William Montgomery. 

1832, William Montgomery, David A. Gregg. 

1833, William Montgomery, John Porter. 



APPENDIX. 



355 



1838, Ricliard Melvin, Nathaniel Aiken, William Cogswell. 

1839, Ricliard Melvin, William Cogswell, Geo. W. Pinkerton. 

1840, Richard Melvin, John Patten, George W. Pinkerton. 
1841-2, William Anderson, Israël Herrick, William Adams. 

1843, Samuel Marshall, Moses Hamilton, John Patten. 

1844, William Ela, James Choate, Jr., Lucien Harper. 

1845, J. T. G. rJtnsmore, Lucien Harper, John B. Taylor. 

1846, James Choate, Jr. Joseph Montgomery, Nathaniel M. 

Taylor. 

1847, Edward Ballou, Jonas Herrick, Lucien Harper, 

1848, Edward Ballou, Jonas Herrick, George H. Taylor. 

1849, John Folsom, Samuel F. Taylor, Robert W. Adams. 

1850, Samuel F. Taylor, John Patten, James C. Taylor. 



LAWYERS WHO HAVE PRACTISED IN LONDONDERRY. 



Samuel Livermore, commeuced prac, 

John Prentice, " " 

Moses L. Neil, " 

George Reid, " 

Jabez Kimball, " 

Daniel Abbot, " 

John Porter, " 

James Thom, " 

David A. Gregg, " 

David W. Dickey, " 

Thornton Betton, " 

Edward P. Parker, " 

George O. Betton, " 

Joseph A. Gregg, " 



1765,* ceased prac. 1775.* 
1775, « " 1803. 
1788, " " 1791. 

1800, " " 1802. 

1801, " " . 1802. 

1802, " » 1802. 
1806, is still in practice. 
1814, ceased prac. 1829. 
1814, is still in practice. 
1821, ceased prac. 1831. 
1829, " " 1841. 
1839, " " 1843. 
1841, " " 1845. 
1843, is still in practice. 



PHYSICIANS WHO HAVE PRACTISED IN LONDONDERRY. 



Archibald Clark, commenced prac. 
Alexander Cummings, " " 

Dr. Rand, * " " 

Matthew Thornton " " 

George Wood, " " 



1730,* prac. many years. 
1748, prac. about 2.0 years. 
1750, prac. «several years.* 
1740, ceased prac. 1778.* 
1770, " « 1785. 



* These dates refer to the times when the -lawyers and physicfans 
commenced and ceased practice in Londonderrij. They are as nearly 
correct as can be ascertained. 



358 HISTORT OF LONDONDERRT. 



The Monument. 

In regard to the erection of a Monument to commemorate the spot 
on which the first scrmon was preachcd in Londonderry, it may be 
remarked that much interest is feit in the execution of such a work, at 
an early day. It is believed that a durable shaft or obelisk of granite, 
with suitable inscriptions, may be completcd for the sum of from two 
hundred to four hundred dollars, according to its size. The Editor of 
this work is authorized to say that the sum of fifty dollars may be con- 
sidered as pledged for this purpose, provided an additional sum of not 
less than three hundred dollars is contributed during the year 1851. 
Any donations for this object may be pledged by addressing a line to 
him, stating the amount 

It has been suggested that an inscription like the following, on the 
front side, would be appropriate : — 

Isaiah 32 : 2. 
And a man shall be as an hiding-pl^e from the wind, and a covert 
from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a 
great rock in a wearj land. 

The above formed the text of the first sermon preachcd in this town, 
April 12, 1719, by the Rev. James MacGregor, under the wide-spreading 
branches of a venerable oak, which for more than a century marked this 
spot. " Then, for the first time, did this wildemess and solitary place, 
over which the savage tribes had for centuries roamed, resound with the 
voice of prayer and praise, and echo to the sound of the gospel." 

The ancient oak is gone ; this granite column will decay and crumble 
into dust; but the principles hcrc proclaimed will endure forever. 

On another side of the Monument might be inscrlbed the names of 
the first sixteen settlcrs, and any othcr prominent facts in the history of 
the town. 



OCT 19^891 



APPENDIX. 



347 



1834, John H. Miltimore, William Montgomery. 

1835, William Montgomery, Jolin Porter. 

1836, Luther V. Bell, John T. G. Dlnsmore. 

1837, John T. G. Dinsmore, Nathaniel Parker. 

1839, Henry Taylor, William Choate. 

1840, John T. G. Dinsmore, Thornton Betten. 

1841, Henry Taylor, John Porter. 

1842, John Porter, Henry Taylor. 

1843, John T. G. Dinsmore, James Taylor. 

1844, James Taylor, John Porter. 

1845, Richard Meivin, William Ela. 
184G, Richard Meivin, Benjamin Eastman. 

1847, William Ela, John Porter. 

1848, Abel F. Hildreth. 

1849, Edward Ballon, John Folsom. 

1850, Edvsrard Ballon, John Folsom. 



/ 



LIST OF MODERATORS AT THE ANNUAL MEETINGS, AND 
TOWN CLERKS. 



Y"ears. 


Moderators. 


Town 


Clerks. 


1719 


James McKeen, 


John GofFe. 


1720 


( Record lost), 


John Goffe. 


1721 


James McKeen, 


li 


Il 


1722 


James Gregg, 


u 


II 


1723 


James Nichols, 


John 


McMui-phy 


1724 


Robert Boyes, 


ii 


II 


1725 


John Blair, 


tl 


II 


1726-7 


Robert Boyes, 


u 


II 


1728 


(No record), 


u 


II 


1729 


James McKeen, 


u 


II 


1730 


James Nesmith, 


(( 


II 


1731 


James McKeen, 


ii 


II 


1732 


Robert Boyes, 


■ li 


' Il 


1733 


Robert Wear, 


II 


II 


1734-5 


Robert Boyes, 


II 


(i 


1736 


John Blair, 


u 


il 


1737 


Nathaniel Weare, 


John Wallace. 


1738 


Andrew Todd, 


u 


u 


1739 


Robert Boyes, 


a 


il 


1740 


John Morrison, Sen., 


u 


II 


1741 


Andrew Todd, 


u 


li 



1 

V 



348 



HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY. 



Years. 


Moderators. 


Town Clorks. 


1742 


Hugh Wilson, 


John Wallace. 


1743-8 inc. 


u u 


Moses Barnett. 


1749 
1750-52 inc. 


Robert Boyes, 
Hugh Wilson, 


James Nesmith. 


1753 


John Mitchell, 


U il 


1754 


James Clark, 


Moses Barnett. 


1755 


Samuel Barr, 


u u 


1756 


James Clark, 


U (( 


1757-62 inc. 


Andrew Todd, 


(( (( 


1763-4 


Samuel Barr, 


(( (( 


1765 


Andrew Todd 


u u 


1766-9 inc. 


Samuel Barr, 


u u 


1770-71 


Matthew Thornton, 


li ii 


1772 
1773-4 


Samuel Fisher, 


Henry Campbell. 


1775 


John Moor, 


John Bell. 


1776 


Matthew Thornton, 


John Crombie. 


1777 


John Bell, 


Thomas Taggart. 


1778 


(( li 


John INIoor. 


1779 


ii ii 


John Bell. 


1780 


John Moor, 


John Moor. 


1781 


Samuel Fisher, 


John BeU. 


1782 


James Nesmith, Jr., 


John Moor. 


1783 


James MacGregor, 


WilHam Anderson. 


1784 


John Bell, 


U il 


1785-6 
1787 


U ii 


Robert McMurphy. 
William Anderson. 


1788-9 
1790 


ii ii 

James MacGregor, 


Robert McMurphy. 
WiUiam Anderson. 


1791 


U U 


George Reid. 


1792 


John Bell, 


Andrew Mack. 


1793 


U II 


George Reid. 


1794 


ii ii 


William Anderson. 


1795 


ii ii 


George Reid. 


1796 


li il 


John Ewins. 


1797 


Il II 


George Reid. 


1798 


li li 


Ebenezer Fisher. 


1799 


John Bell, Jr., 


George Reid. 


1800 


John Bell, 


Ebenezer Fisher. 


1801 


ii li 


George Reid. 


1802 


ii u 


Ebenezer Fisher. 


1803 


William Adams, 


George Reid. 



i 




APPENDIX. 



353 



1791, George Reid, Daniel Reynolds, Edmund Adams, John 

Bell, William Adams. 

1792, George Reid, Daniel Reynolds, John Bell, William 

Adams, Thomas Patterson. 

1793, James MacGregor, John Nesmith, Jr., James Choate, 

William Adams, Major John Pinkerton. 

1794, Daniel Reynolds, George Reid, Andrew Mack, John 

Bell, Edward Ela. 

1795, John Nesmith, Sen., William Choate, Daniel McKeen, 

Andrew Mack, John Ewins. 

1796, John Nesmith, Sen., Daniel McKeen, Andrew Mack 

Edward Ela, John Ewins. 

1797, John Moor, Nathaniel Nowell, John Nesmith, Andrew 

Mack, John Bell. 

1798, John Moor, John Nesmith, Andrew Mack, John Dickey,< 

Robert Nesmith. 

1799, John Moor, William Choate, John Nesmith, Andrew 

'Mack, John Dickey. 

1800, John Moor, William Choate, Andrew Mack, Robert 

Nesmith, John Dickey. 

1801, John Moor, William Choate, Daniel McKeen, " Andrew 

Mack, John Dickey. 

1802, James Choate, John Moor, John Pinkerton, John Fisher, 

William Gage. 

1803, James Choate, John Moor, Daniel McKeen, John Pinker- 

ton, John Dickey. 

1804, John Moor, Aaron Choate, John Dickey, John Pinkerton, 

John Fisher. 

1805, John Moor, Aaron Choate, John Clark* John Dickey, 

John Pinkerton. 

1806, Daniel McKeen, Aaron Choate, Andrew Mack, John 

PinkertcMi, John Fisher. 

1807, Daniel McKeen, James Choate, John Nesmith, Andrew 

Mack, John Fisher. 

1808, John Nesmith, James Choate, John Pinkerton, John 

dickey, John Fisher. 

1809, James Choate, John Fisher, John Nesmith. 

1810, John Nesmith, John Pinkerton, John Fisher. 

1811, John Nesmith, James Choate, Jolyi Fisher. 

1812, John Nesmith,^ Samuel Dickey, John Fisher. 

1813, John Moor, Peter Patterson, Samuel Dickey. 

1814, John Moor, William Adams, William Anderson, Jr. 

1815, John Dickey, John Clark, Samuel Adams. 

30* 



354 HISTORY OF LONDONDERRT. 

1816, John Dickey, John Clark, William Anderson, Jr. 

1817, John Clarft:, William Choate, William Anderson, Jr. 

1818, John Dickey,^illiam Choate, WiUiam Anderson, Jr. 

1819, John Moor, John Fisher, John H. Miltimore. 

1820, J. H. Miltimore, John Fisher, Robert Mack. 

1821, William Montgomery, J. H. Miltimore, Robert Mack. 

1822, William Montgomery, Robert Mack, John Holmes. 

1823, Alanson Tucker, Robert Mack, William Montgomery. 

1824, William Montgomery, Robert Mack, John Holmes. 

1825, J. H. Miltimore, John Holmes, Jonatlian Humphrey. 

1826, John Holmes, John H. Mltimore, Samuel Dickey. 

In Londonderry^ since the division of the town. 

1827-9 inc, Robert Mack, Robert Boyd, Jr., Samuel Dickey. 
1830-31, Robert Mack, Robert Boyd, Jr., Wilham Plumer. 

1832, Robert Mack, William Plumer, Thomas Patterson. 

1833, Thomas Patterson, Jr., David Gilcreast, Samuel Dickey. 

1834, Robert Boyd, Jr., David Gilcreast, Francis Manter. 
1835-6, Thomas Patterson, William Plumer, Cyrus Nesmith. 

1837, Thomas Patterson, David Tenney, Cyrus Nesmith. 

1838, Robert Mack, Thomas Patterson, Moriison Jackson. 

1839, Robert Boyd, Jr., Morrison Jackson, Cyrus Nesmith. 

1840, Robert Boyd, Jr,, Thomas Patterson, Cyrus Nesmith. 

1841, Thomas Patterson, Daniel G. Coburn, Cyrus Nesmith. 

1842, D. G. Coburn, Jonathan Humphrey, J. N. Anderson. 
1843'-4, F. D. Anderson, David Gilcreast, Jr., Nathan Plumer. 
1845-6, J. N. Anderson, Arley Plumer, Cyrus Nesmith. 
1847, Josiah Sleeper, Reid P. Clark, Jonathan Young. 
1848-9, Matthew Holmes, D. G. Coburn, Calvin Boyd. 

1850, Robert Boyd, Jr., Aaron P. Hardy, Wilham W. Gage. 

In Derry, since the division of the town. 

1827, James Thom, William Choate, Jr., Mark Fisk, William 

. Ela, Nathaniel Aiken. 

1828, John H. Miltimore, Nathaniel Aiken, William Ela. 

1829, Henry Taylor, James Choate, Jr., Nathaniel Aiken. 

1830, Nathaniel Aiken, James Choate, Jr., William Ela. 

1831, Nathaniel Aiken, William Ela, J. H. Miltimore. 

1832, Nathaniel Aiken, WiUiam Ela, Perkins A. Hodge. 
1833-5 inc, Nathaniel Aiken, WiUiam Ela, John Patten. 

1836, James Taylor, David Clement, J. H. -Miltimore. i ^ijjl 

1837, Richard Meivin, Nathaniel Aiken, John Patten. 



C\ 



.- \;^" 



ERRATA. 

Page 35, tenth line from top, for two hundred and. seventeen read three 
hundred and nineteen. 
" " eleventh line from top, for seven read thirteen. 
" 139, twelfth line from top, for toot read tooTc. 
" 156, fourteenth line from top, for acquitted read pardoned. 
" 210, thirteenth line from bottom, for 1733, read 1783. 
'• 238, fifteenth line from top, in some copies supply the word It. 
" 299, second line from bottom, omit the comma after Nancy. 



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